


Gemini, Touch the Sky

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: Gemini, [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Contest Entry, F/M, Family Drama, Family Feels, J-pop References, Keith & Ryou - Twins, Open Novella Contest, Open Novella Contest 2019, Pop Idol, Public Disappearance, Romance, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, music writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25236421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: Ryo stopped appearing in Japan or anywhere else as the pop idol Doragonhanata, but decides to return when the world learns upon Sam's return of the Galra threat to help boost morale. He finds himself met with questions regarding why he disappeared from the public eye. One of the sisters of the missing cadets, Rachel, personally doubts his motivations.
Relationships: Rachel/Ryou (Voltron)
Series: Gemini, [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1828216
Collections: (General) Open Novella 2019, Focus on Female Characters, Voltron: Keith's Twin





	1. Numbness

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender. Note - I wrote this for the Open Novella 2019. The prompt is General Fiction 7: Public Disappearance. The prompt is, "Long in the public spotlight for their talent, it has been three years since they went into hiding, disappearing from the media, from the press, and from the internet. When they re-emerged, everything changed. The wold held their breath as it waited for an explanation." I'm working with my head canon that Shiro and Keith are siblings, but that Ryo is his twin. Also, Ryo is paired with Rachel. This story made it through the third round.

The morning started off uneventful, or at least as uneventful as the life of a pop idol from Japan could be. Ryo's routine started with a protein drink before physical training. From there he ate a light breakfast while his manager went over his schedule for the day. The time before lunch was spent recording and greeting fans. At lunchtime, Ryo ate in his dressing room while final touches for today's photo shoot were made.

The pop idol found himself looking into the mirror at the facial features which girls fawned over. Of late the sight of his own face reminded him of a matter left unresolved. Ryo's eyes narrowed as his fingers unscrewed the cap of his plastic water bottle before taking a drink in hopes he might brush the thoughts regarding the unresolved business away.

"Ryo!"

The door of the changing room opened in a flourish as his manager stepped in. The young idol looked up wondering why the man came in in such a state.

"Turn on your television."

"You know I won't have any kind of distraction during work hours, particularly right now when my mind is elsewhere."

"I'm currently working on clearing your schedule. Turn on the news."

A frown twisted onto Ryo's face. He set down his water bottle and reached for the remote and turned on the rarely used television. His mind at first didn't register what his mind was seeing and hearing. Eventually, his eyes widened and his mouth opened while his hand holding the remote lowered to his knee. "Takashi..."

Ryo let the news regarding the failed Kerberos mission play out. Takashi Shirogane along with the two other crew members were declared dead, but the reason came down to pilot error. Ryo's eyes opened and closed a few times as his mind contemplated the idea of his older brother, Takashi Shirogane, failing as a pilot. Nothing felt real.

Eventually, he set the remote down with a lack of gusto and reached for his cellphone. "I've got to call Keith."

The cell phone sat in the palm of his hand unused. Ryo swallowed upon remembering the painful memory of his last conversation with his older brother. " _I don't care that he's our brother!_ "

" _Ryo, if something happens to me you're all he has. He doesn't have anybody else, but nobody's willing to give him a chance._ "

" _Why should I care? He and I have nothing in common, but you haven't even told him! You haven't told him that we're family, so he wouldn't even know the difference!_ "

" _I told you. Keith found out about my illness. It didn't feel right springing something else on him._ "

" _Screw you Takashi! Screw your illness! Don't pretend to actually care!_ "

Without realizing it Ryo flipped open his phone. His finger flipped through the pictures until he came to a picture Takashi sent him. The picture was a selfie Takashi took of himself and Keith. Takashi smiled at the camera, but Keith looked at the phone warily. Ryo knew Keith struggled with trusting people; Shiro was one of the few people Keith let into his life, but Shiro was now gone.

A sigh escaped Ryo's mouth. "Could you book a flight while you're clearing up my schedule?"

"Where to?"

"I need to make a trip to Takashi's garrison to see someone." A few hours later Ryo found himself at the garrison greeted by Commander Iverson and given condolences regarding the death of his older brother. The man avoided the subject of the army blaming Takashi for the mission failure almost as if there was something he was hiding, but Ryo found himself not wanting to bring it up. Instead, he focused on Keith.

"You want to see the kid your brother was mentoring?"

Ryo felt himself freeze yet feel a little guilty. While Takashi was a very sociable person, he kept certain things such as family matters private. Secrets such as Ryo's status as a pop idol under a different name were things Takashi always kept well yet keeping the fact Keith was their brother secret felt emotionally like a bucket of icy water was dumped on him. "Why not?"

"That kid has major emotional issues. I'm not sure what Shirogane was thinking when he recommended that young man to the garrison. He's far from garrison material and probably more trouble than he's worth."

"He's..." Ryo found himself biting his tongue. Under all appearances, Takashi had _not_ revealed the fact he was Keith's older brother to the Garrison, but with different last names, there was no way anyone would suspect. In fact, Takashi mentioned something about only finding out because he did some digging after he'd decided to intervene in Keith's life. "Never mind. I just want to see him."

"Don't blame me if it goes south."

Iverson took Ryo and his manager to a conference room where he found himself waiting until he heard some rather irate yelling. The door opened. "Why the hell am I being called in? What did I do wrong..." The person in question turned and looked right at Ryo, but Ryo recognized the face looking at himself as a mirror image of his own. "This time? Who are you?"

"Ryo Shirogane."

"Shiro's younger brother?"

"Apparently he wants to talk to you. I'll be outside." Iverson closed the door behind Keith while the young cadet stared at Ryo. Ryo found himself taking the initiative of moving towards Keith which in turn made Keith glance away nervously.

Eventually, he said, "What do you want?"

"I want..." In the back of his mind, Ryo wondered what he wanted. He found himself glancing away.

"To ogle at the kid, you mistakenly thought Shiro replaced you with?" The words stung, but not as much as the rather angry look on Keith's face when Ryo looked him in the eye. Ryo saw his manager step forward out of the corner of his eye. "I did overhear Shiro's side of the conversation."

Ryo let out a sound of irritation. "Look..."

"I'm leaving." Keith turned and headed towards the door.

"Wait." What Ryo did next was a mistake. In fact, Shiro warned him over the phone regarding Keith's temper, so he should have known to reach out and grab the sleeve of Keith's orange cadet uniform was, in fact, a bad idea. For a few seconds what he saw in front of his eye blurred as Keith moved quicker than Ryo expected. Ryo's mind then registered pain and his hand reached up for his eye. "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"Don't use me as some tool to alleviate your guilt!"

"And what is that supposed to mean!"

The door snapped open and Iverson stormed in, but Keith apparently didn't notice. "I'm not some damn surrogate for Shiro to alleviate your guilt for having a messed-up relationship with him!"

"Kagone!"

Keith flinched as Iverson grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the conference room. Ryo found himself not reacting and instead stood there in shock as his manager followed after the commander. Ryo sat down and contemplated what Keith said. There definitely was some guilt regarding how he interacted with Takashi before he left.

"The garrison is kicking that kid out."

Ryo's head darted up upon hearing his manager speak. "What?"

"He certainly gave you quite the shiner."

"What do you mean he's been kicked out?"

"Apparently the only thing preventing them from kicking him out was your older brother. I honestly don't see what he saw in that kid or why he stuck his neck out for him, yet he couldn't be bothered the last year or so to be there for you."

Ryo's teeth ground together. "Takashi was there for Keith because Keith is our brother!"

"What?"

"You heard me! The reason Takashi and I had a falling out was because he'd not yet told Keith! So don't blame Keith for what happened just now! I knew from what Takashi told me not to touch him unexpectedly like that, but I can't blame him for thinking that!"

"Ryo, you need to calm down."

"How can I calm down?" Ryo felt everything falling apart yet knew no way of putting things together. Takashi, of course, would know how, but he was gone. Mentally he felt numb and didn't register his manager guiding him out of the conference room or getting him on the plane back to Japan. In the back of his head, the music which came naturally for so long when he wrote songs came in parts or not at all.

He attempted making contact with his remaining brother via text. " _We need to talk._ "

" _Who is this?_ "

" _Ryo Shirogane._ "

" _I don't know how you got this number but leave me alone._ "

He sent other messages yet received no answer in return. The spotlight suddenly felt hollow as he waited for Keith to wear down and reply, yet the day never came. Ryo heard a knock on the door of his apartment a year later. Despite never revealing his real name and staying out of the public eye he found himself looking through the peephole and saw someone in the grey uniform of a garrison soldier. Letting out a sigh he opened the door. "What is this about?"

"We have news regarding your brother," the soldier said.

Ryo's stomach lurched slightly, and his eyes widened. "Wait. Not Keith as well."

"Keith. As in Keith Kogane?"

Ryo's eyes closed while his hands clutched the door and doorframe tightly. "This is about Takashi? How. He was declared dead."

"Actually, this is about both Lieutenant Takashi Shirogane and Keith Kagone." The soldier seemed slightly confused. "May I come in? This is rather sensitive information."

Ryo shrugged his shoulders. "Lieutenant Takashi Shirogane appeared a few days ago in an alien craft."

"By alien craft, you don't mean..."

"We suspect the craft was of a nation opposed to the attempt at united space exploration among all countries which in turn sabotaged the Kerberos mission and captured the crew. We suspect the Lieutenant escaped from his captors and stole the craft, but before we could finish quarantine him and interrogate him regarding what happened a group of cadets _and_ the Kagone youth broke in and took off with him. Yet another alien craft was seen a few days later, but we couldn't find them at the Kagone residence."

"You mean to say you had both of them right there, but then they both disappeared again?" Ryo felt his throat tighten and a slightly acidic feeling coming up.

"Well, yes."

"Get out."

"Yes, but..."

"Just get out of my home!" Ryo went to the front door and opened it. When the solider from the garrison left he slammed the door and turned the locks with a resounding click. He headed towards the table. Practically no words came to mind meaning the issue with songwriting persisted Ryo still managed a few.

_I thought the numbness gone,  
but now the feeling is back..._


	2. Message to Earth's Citizens

The bell hanging over the café door jangled alerting the staff another customer entered the small, tranquil café. The traffic through the café meant the place remained busy during business hours. Some high school students from nearby enjoyed the small café for study groups but others utilized the place for meeting up with friends for the simple task of sharing whatever gossip interested the students recently.

Ryo stood behind the counter preparing an order while his textbooks remained untouched on the counter shelves. The corners of his mouth twisted down slightly while mentally he attempted focusing on the task at hand instead of thinking about the soldier who showed up a year ago or the news report regarding the Kerberos mission from a year before, but no more news came from the garrison or on the small television the café customers watched.

He finished making the coffee and picked up the saucers the cups were on. Ryo watched his hands tremble slightly and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath the shaking stopped and he turned towards the customers and put on a fake smile. He headed towards the swinging door which separated the staff from the clusters as they prepared coffee and started towards the table.

Ryo's dark eyes recognized the newest customer and nodded his head indicating he would be with him in a moment before heading over towards a group of girls who sat chatting amicably with each other. He set the cups down in front of each girl and declared each order while the girls giggled in amusement. In the back of his mind, he didn't want to know what they were thinking, but as he expected the girls let him know what they found so amusing.

"If there is anything else I can do for you ladies, please let me know."

One of the girls looked up at him, but her eyes widened in curiosity. "Are you Doragonhanta?"

"What?" Ryo hoped he kept his composure when he heard her use his pop idol name.

"You know, the pop idol who mysteriously disappeared a couple of years ago. You really look like him, but you smile more."

"Not really." The lie on his tongue felt bitter but not as bitter as the disappearance of his family.

One of the girl's friends leaned forward. "You don't know? I thought everyone knew. I mean, everyone still talks about it. He was that popular."

"Is that popular," the third girl corrected. "His popularity hasn't waned."

"Well, as I said, do let me know if there is anything else you ladies need."

Ryo headed back to the counter and turned to the customer who recently came in. His manager now sat at the counter waiting for him patiently. "Ryo."

"The usual?"

The man nodded his head and looked at the counter. "How are you doing?"

"I may need to find another job soon." Ryo stood with his back towards customers again so he didn't need to smile at anyone.

"I thought you liked this one." The manager let out a sigh. In the back of his mind Ryo wondered if his manager would still have anything to do with him if, first off, he wasn't still a possible money earner if he went back into the industry, and second, the man wasn't the personal manager regarding the Shirogane estate. The latter certainly complicated things yet provided an easy explanation as to why Ryo was speaking with the man who _was_ Doroganhanta's manager.

"It's..." Ryo glanced over at the three girls who were still giggling. One of the girls lifted her phone and took a picture of him. "The usual trouble."

"You can't keep moving onto a new job every time you think someone suspects you of – well, being you." His manager took a deep breath. "That said, when I asked how you were doing, I meant with the other situation. Have you had any more news from the garrison?"

"Nothing. Takashi is still the official reason why the Kerberos mission failed." Ryo turned around with a cup of coffee for his manager.

"Turn up the television!"

The comment from one of the male customers made Ryo glance over at the television. In the back of his mind, he remembered very well the feeling he felt seeing the news report where the garrison declared his older brother dead. Seeing the familiar face on the television at an obvious garrison press conference made Ryo suck in his breath, but his hands let go of the cup of coffee.

The sound of glass breaking on the ground made the customers who didn't already notice the television broadcast glance up. Ryo reached for the remote and pushed the volume button as he continued staring at the television, but so did his manager. One of the other customers spoke up, this time a female one. "Isn't that Commander Holt from the Kerberos mission. I thought he was dead."

A Japanese translator spoke for those who couldn't speak English, yet Ryo heard every word coming out of the man's mouth.

"To the people of Earth, I am fully aware you are likely wondering how I could be alive, but where my other crew members – my son Matt and Lieutenant Shirogane are. Like myself, they are alive and well, but I come bringing news of the utmost importance which requires the countries of Earth to band together. This is not some political move to push the policy of intergalactic space travel among all citizens of Earth as an equal and fair enterprise supported by the United Nations."

"He still hasn't answered how he's alive, or how he got back to Earth."

"Shush."

"What I am going to say is going to be hard to believe, but we are not the only beings in the universe. More specifically, I wish to warn you about the Galra threat which could be on our doorstep within a matter of moments and the need..."

"I knew Commander Holt believed in aliens, but doesn't this take things too far?"

"... for us to unite in order to protect the Earth is of utmost importance. We are calling upon the scientists of Earth and anyone else who is ready and willing to join us in this fight..."

"He must be insane."

"... against the Galra. Specifically, I am in need of other scientists to adapt the Galra technology retrieved with Takashi Shirogane crash landed here on Earth a year ago and the info regarding alien technology particularly that of the Alteans allied with us few as they may be to Earth's technology. We will, in fact, see technological advances we've never imagined, but first and foremost is preparing the defenses..."

"If he was insane why is the Garrison letting him talk officially?" This comment from one of the customers quickly changed the morale in the small café.

"... against the Galra. As for where my son and the Lieutenant are, they are already out there fighting the Galra. Matt is with the allied forces gathered by Voltron which is led by Lieutenant Shirogane."

Ryo took a deep breath and turned towards his manager. The look on the man's face told him he'd like paled considerably at the thought of losing his older brother _again_.

"With him are four garrison cadets who helped him find the first part of Voltron here on Earth a year ago."

"Oh shit." Ryo leaned over the counter and bowed his head. His eyes closed tightly upon realizing Keith was also in the same situation as Takashi. After all, Ryo knew from what the soldier said that Keith was with Shiro, but he also knew that he might lose both of his brothers if something went wrong. "Shit."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard his manager's voice. "Ryo, I'm sure they will be all right."

Ryo wasn't so sure.


	3. Disappointing Breaths of Air

Ryo took a deep breath.

For two years he avoided any contact with the main garrison in charge of training crew for intergalactic space travel outside of the one visit from the one soldier a year ago giving an update regarding his brothers. He mentally found himself tired of the lies and half-truths coming from the mouths of those in charge, yet Ryo still wanted answers.

His fingers tightened around the strap of the side satchel carrying the bare minimum requirements he needed while his manager took the rest to the hotel. The staff and students of the garrison bustled about preparing for not only the alien threat, but the incoming scientists set on helping Holt develop the technology Earth would need in the fight against the Galra. The atmosphere was certainly different from the few other times he'd visited before Takashi's disappearance.

His assigned escort led Ryo to the garrison classroom where everyone was meeting. His eyes quickly scanned the room and picked out those who were also missing a family member from among the scientists and other professionals gathered. He found himself slipping towards the back unnoticed and leaned up against the back wall taking in everything.

One of his hands unzipped his side satchel and pulled out the ends of his headphones and stuck them in his ears and pressed a button so he might listen to music while he waited, but his eyes watched the others waiting for news regarding their family more so than others. A dull emotional ache started setting in at the back of Ryo's mind; he was after all a unit of one and they a unit of many.

He found himself starting to stare at one person taking in her dark skin and curly hair. She eventually noticed Ryo watching and looked up and glared at him. Instinctively Ryo glanced away yet muttered under his breath. "Seriously. Now is not the time to be falling for a girl."

He let the rhythm of the music draw his attention away from the professionals and family members, but he glanced up whenever someone new entered the room. Eventually Samuel Holt – the commander of the failed Kerberos mission – came in. Ryo pushed the pause button on his music player and put the headphones back into his side satchel.

"Hello everyone." Holt smiled at everyone in the room and a silence fell over the room. "There are a lot of things I need to discuss with everyone in the room but thank you for coming"

Ryo fiddled slightly with his visitor's pass and mentally prepared himself for whatever technical and political discussion which would come next. Instead, Holt took a deep breath.

"I know everyone has a lot of questions including whether aliens are real and the fact some outside of the garrison feel this is a conspiracy to further unify Earth under one space exploration program meant to monopolize space travel, but I guarantee you the Galra are real but also a real threat. We are breaking everyone up into groups but focusing on the families of the missing cadets first. I know their family members have questions, but I think I'll let them answer your questions with the video messages they recorded."

Samuel Holt proceeded into the more technical details yet left certain things out. When someone asked a question, which might lead into a traumatizing answer for the younger family members of the missing cadets the man cleared his throat and tilted his head slightly before proceeding to say someone would answer the question at a later point.

After the brief question and answer session, the garrison staff in the room started taking people out in groups. Ryo watched the family members of the missing cadets who weren't Keith go before him. Eventually, his turn came and he found himself in Samual Holt's office accompanied by the commander and his wife. Sam sat down while the smile on his face faltered into a frown. "I need to apologize."

"Ryo's eyebrow's shot up slightly. "Why? It's not your fault. I mean, what happened to my brothers."

"No. I mean the fact I didn't receive a recorded message for you from either Shiro or Keith."

"I..." Emotionally Ryo felt deflated, yet he told himself he honestly thought something similar might happen. "I get it. I wasn't on good terms with either of them, but Keith... I don't know if Shiro told him or not."

"I'm not so sure that's the reason." Sam leaned back in the chair." Well, there is the fact Keith might not know, but I wasn't able to see him at all before I left either. He was helping some of our allies at the time and as such wouldn't have had the chance to record a video for you. On the other hand, I'm honestly surprised Shiro didn't record a message for you. One of the things we discussed on the Kerberos mission was the fact he wasn't happy with the way things were left between you two."

"Perhaps Shiro simply had too much on his mind?" Coleen volunteered.

"Maybe that's it."

"Can you tell me how they're doing?" Ryo watched Sam's frown deepen, yet he thought perhaps the man's grey hairs somehow became even greyer.

"We weren't left unscarred from our time as prisoners with he Galra Ryo."

"Sorry." Ryo's eyes darted down. "I guess I really don't want to know. I mean, I want to know, but there's also a dread. Of knowing what kind of scars they have."

"I understand where you're coming from." Coleen placed a hand on Ryo's shoulder. "They are alive though."

"Yeah..." For some reason knowing didn't alleviate the emotional distress he felt. Ryo's eyes looked down at his hands and saw his fingers clenching the front of his pants legs.

"How are you?" Sam's voice drew Ryo's attention and the young man looked up at the commander.

"Sir?"

"I mean regarding the conspiracy theories and the fact some in the public are still badmouthing Shiro despite the fact our mission didn't fail because of him like the garrison first reported?"

"Can I get back to you on that one?"

"Sure." Sam scribbled a phone number onto a piece of paper and placed the note in front of Ryo. "Feel free to contact me or Coleen if you need to talk, and if you want more information we'll tell you what we're allowed to."

Ryo folded the piece of paper and placed the object into his pants pocket.


	4. Decision

" _Empty..._ "

Ryo found himself looking at the single word he'd written in his small handheld notebook. There was no shaking the numbness he felt. The bus heading from the garrison to the nearby city hit a bump and Ryo let his head jolt up quickly. "Only a day..."

A deep breath of air escaped from Ryo's lips as he looked at the city slowly growing indicating the lessening of distance. Ryo's eyes blinked and he found himself scribbling down a note underneath the word empty. " _Growing in size indicates the lessening of distance._ "

His eyes darted up towards the ceiling. "I shouldn't expect to find the answers I'm looking for only a day after the news briefing." Ryo's fingers reached in and touched the paper on which Holt scribbled the phone numbers. "Is there less distance between us if the defenses against the Galra grow? Will it mean less time until they are home?"

The notebook page gained a few more notes scribbled down and Ryo found himself continuing to look at the page. The bus lurched to a stop and the notebook slipped from his hand. Ryo took a deep breath and reached down for the lost item while his fellow passengers glanced around. He lifted his head up and glanced forward. His eyes blinked upon seeing the lack of movement going forward. "What's going on?"

The small handful of passengers glanced around wondering the same thing. One person pulled out their phone and started looking up information while some glanced out the windows. One of the people looking out the window said, "there is a major traffic jam".

"Apparently..." The person using their phone didn't look up. "There is a major protest going on in the city regarding the garrison."

Ryo's mouth twisted into a frown. "Why aren't they protesting outside of the garrison?"

The person using their phone looked up at him. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Why do you ask?"

"There is only so close a protest can get to the garrison legally, but a protest inside the city would be far more visible to the news outlets for that very reason. Whoever arranged the protest didn't have much time to do so, but the transportation options for civilians wanting to go out to the garrison are limited for obvious reasons." The person paused. "You look familiar."

"I doubt it." Ryo turned back to his notebook, yet no more words came to mind making the journey back to their hotel rather grueling. His manager waited for him at the bus terminal utilized for the buses which headed out to the garrison, yet the taxi ride proved just as grueling as the bus ride. Ryo let out a groan and finally conceded to walking the rest of the way. He walked at a brisk pace behind his manager.

On the way to the hotel, they passed close by the protest. Ryo caught a glimpse of some of the signs and found himself taking a deep breath. "Don't pay attention to them."

His manager's voice drew his attention away and he continued. Even when they arrived at the hotel Ryo didn't relax until he found himself in their hotel room. A deep sigh escaped his lips. After a few minutes taking in the quiet atmosphere, he headed towards the table and dropped his notebook onto the surface. He plopped down into the chair. "Nothing."

"What?"

"I don't have any information about them."

"Do you mean the Garrison is still not being upfront with you regarding what is going on."

"No. Commander Holt was more then willing to tell me details, but I asked if they were alright and then decided I didn't want to know. I'm scared I'll find out something which will only make me worry even more. No video message from them." Ryo remembered something Holt said and sat up. His throat tightened while the knuckle of one finger tapped the surface of the table. "I did learn something. Keith was off doing his own thing."

Ryo's manager pulled out a chair and sat down. "Is that really surprising? I mean, we're talking about the brother who became a hermit in the desert for an entire year."

"And I worried about him the entire time he did that." Ryo glanced down at the table. His frustration built up slightly and he stood up and walked over to the television and reached for a remote.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"I feel useless doing nothing. They're miles, no, eons away, and I can't do anything to help them." Ryo pushed the rubbery buttons of the remote so he might watch the news.

" _So..._ " the news anchor on the television screen said. " _People around the world are discussing whether aliens are real, or if Doctor Samuel Holt went crazy when the Kerberos mission failed. This, of course, means Takashi Shirogane's actions as pilot are still under scrutiny, but some in the world are wondering if this is some scheme to further monopolize the world's resources under one umbrella organization._ "

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryo saw his manager reach for the remote. "Ryo..."

"It's not as if I haven't heard this before."

"You don't need more stress." The man let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "Ryo..." Ryo shook his head and headed over towards the table. He set the controller down.

" _We should never have traveled into outer space in the first place," one of the people on the television said. "This is what we got for trying to use any resource we can get our hands on._ "

" _Why can't we just make peace with the Galra. Why do we have to go to war?_ "

" _Earth is for Earthlings._ "

" _This is the biggest hoax ever._ "

" _They're not letting anyone in on the alien technology unless they agree to their secrecy plan. Sounds like what really happened is UCIST stole the technology from a country or group not under their precious Universal Coalition for Intergalactic Space Travel._ "

" _Are those cadets alive, or is that another cover-up? Who are these cadets even?_ "

" _Sure, aliens aren't real. This is just going to make the UCIST fall apart just like any other major whatever you call it has. I mean, historically that's what happened._ "

" _Aliens are scary._ " The comment made Ryo sit up straight as his mind processed what he heard. The latest person interviewed for their opinion was a little girl, but he listened to the adults around the little girl tell her there was nothing to worry about because the aliens weren't real.

His finger reached for the remote and turned off the television. A sigh drew his attention to his manager whose facial features twisted in relief. "I was wondering when you would stop torturing yourself."

"I'm fine." Ryo watched his manager begin to protest and held up a finger while he flipped to a blank piece of paper. His writing utensil spun between his fingers and then touched down on the sheet of paper. The blank sheet soon filled with line after line of possible lyrics and every so often Ryo swallowed. The tension certainly wasn't going away, yet Ryo knew in part this came from the excitement he suddenly felt.

After a few minutes, he blinked his eyes and rubbed them. His hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a card while his other hand reached for his cell phone while his manager watched with a rather amused look on his face.


	5. Disbelief

She felt like throwing up.

The pain of Lance going missing tore up the family, but no matter how annoying Lance was he was in fact still her brother. Adding to the pain was the garrison's refusal to give any concrete answers regarding Lance's disappearance with the other cadets, but Veronica withdrew from the family because she knew things that as a soldier at the garrison she could not divulge. As such Rachel felt as if she lost not one, but two family members.

Even when Holt made the announcement regarding aliens the family hadn't made the connection that the cadets he referred to were the ones Lance disappeared with. They didn't know until the garrison made a phone call shortly after making arrangements for the family to be brought to the garrison for further debriefing and they found themselves mingling with Hunk's family.

It was the one connection they made. Hunk disappeared at the same time and the two families for a long time, but the boys were best friends. Hunk's disappearance made things even more confusing as Hunk never got into trouble unless Lance instigated but running away was something Hunk would and could talk Lance out of, not to mention the fact there was no motivation behind why Lance might run away.

Seeing the latest news playing out in front of her eyes while she ate a meal out with her friends to get her mind what was going on only added to the insult she felt as a person. Rachel held her glass in her hand watching constantly the streaming news regarding the alien threat and how nobody was sure yet if the threat was a hoax or not. Her friends said something about not paying the news any mind, and yet such a world-changing event was hard to ignore.

Even the entertainment news Rachel normally liked was filled with news of things related to the garrison reveal.

"In other news, we actually have news regarding a Japanese pop idol who disappeared from the public spotlight a few years ago."

"Really? Is this yet another conspiracy theory then like that of the aliens?"

"Well, the fanbase of Doragonhanta certainly came up with quite a few conspiracy theories of their own regarding his disappearance, but no. He's honestly made a comeback with a new song. Specifically, he's come out with a new song to show his support for Voltron and the garrison's movement against the Galra, but he's encouraging Earth's citizens as he put it to do the same."

Rachel felt ill hearing the various celebrities taking advantage of _her_ family's personal pain for their own publicity, but she didn't feel like throwing up until she saw a picture of Doragonhanta on the news screen. "You've got to be kidding me."

She remembered seeing him at the garrison.

Rachel found herself bored to death regarding the stories the older family members swapped along with the fact her nephew and niece were getting bored themselves yet sticking with the family was far better than mingling with the professionals. Every so often she found herself glancing around which was when she saw him.

He, whoever he was, was a young man of Asian descent. He stood at the back of his room watching everyone while listening to what was probably music on his headphones. After a brief moment, Rachel realized he was staring right at her which in turn made her glare at the young man. Her action made him startle and look away. She felt a slight irritation at the idea of anybody ogling her from afar yet brushed the thought aside.

Any chance of forgetting him flew out the window when she saw a picture of him on the screen.

"Oh, it's him. It's really him."

"Nina's always been a major fan of him."

"Oh great." Rachel shook her drink slightly so the ice cubes clinked.

"Why do you have to be so down?" Anita whispered into Dom's ear and she glanced at the table sheepishly. "Oh yeah. Your brother's one of the cadets."

"Seriously, utilizing this for his public comeback is low." Rachel glanced at her drink more intensely. "Who does he think he is?" Everyone fell silent and she looked up after a bit wondering what was going on. "What?"

Every single friend looked at Nina who finally swallowed. "I don't know. None of his fans know his real name. He honestly kept to himself a lot, but nobody knows why he up and disappeared. There are definitely a lot of rumors floating around out there as to why, but they were all written in Japanese, so I don't know most of them."

"Who cares. Whatever reason he has doesn't justify him making his public comeback on the back of my family pain."

"I know it may feel that way, but..."

"You guys wouldn't understand."

"No, I couldn't possibly."

It didn't matter how much Rachel always found herself annoyed by her younger brother's antics. More specifically, it didn't matter how embarrassing it was hearing him lie about his non-existent achievements at the garrison. It didn't matter how much he flirted with every beautiful female he could let alone the fact Lance for some reason thought he was a heaven-sent gift for women everywhere. Of course, her older brother Marcos found Lance's failed attempts at picking up girls was amusing.

Seriously – seeing Lance try and pick up a beautiful woman twice his age was creepy as was how uncomfortable he made them.

Then there was his made-up rivalry with one of the cadets named Keith. Rachel found herself rolling her eyes whenever Lance complained about his so-called rival named Keith who really wasn't a rival, yet she honestly didn't understand how he – the cadet at the bottom of the class – thought he was rivals with the cadet who was, in fact, the top of the class. She was honestly surprised her brother and this Keith Kagone hadn't killed each other.

She also pitied Takashi Shirogane.

Lance was obsessed with the man and idolized him to a degree which made him seem somewhat like a stalkerish fanboy, but the video recording he sent homemade Rachel think even that hadn't improved, but it was obvious that Lance's idol was having to deal with his flirtatious behavior. Takashi Shirogane had to also deal with the fact Lance was jealous of Keith along with Lance's obsession with the Altean princess.

She _really_ pitied the man, but she still missed her brother and nothing excused what this Japanese pop idol was doing.


	6. Disgust

"I want to talk to this Doragonhanta person _now_."

Victoria glanced up from her computer at Rachel in confusion. "Whatever for?"

"Who does he think he is, utilizing our family's pain like he is Victoria?"

Rachel watched Victoria look at her through her eyeglasses. "I honestly don't know what you're getting at."

"He's utilizing the reveal in order to get back in the spotlight, isn't he? There is no way though he can understand how any of us who are waiting for our family member to come back feel. He can't understand how we feel about our family member potentially dying out there."

The corner of Victoria's mouth twisted in amusement. "What's this? I thought you hated Lance. Didn't you always find him embarrassing?"

"Stop brushing off my concerns."

"I'm not. I think it's funny that you say he can't understand."

"Well, he can't. He doesn't have family members out there, does he?"

Victoria let out a sigh and waved her hand indicating Rachel should leave. "I've got more important things to do. I don't have time to listen to one of your inane rants, albeit it is nice to hear you ranting about someone other than our youngest sibling for a change."

"Some help you are." Rachel turned on her heels. She fingered her visitor's pass and started walking towards the cafeteria. The garrison gave the families of the missing cadets who were apparently no longer missing quite a bit of freedom, and yet the freedom given didn't make the missteps the garrison made regarding certain sensitive matters any better.

She found Marco there with their nephew and niece enjoying a meal while some of the cadets milled around. He joked around with the two kids and kept their morals high. He heard her approaching and pointed at a tray of food. "Got you something to eat Rae."

"I'm not hungry." She sat down. "Victoria wouldn't listen to what I have to say."

Marco took a deep breath before leaning in so he could speak to her in a whisper so their nephew and niece couldn't hear what he had to say. "Look, what's wrong with trying to keep everyone's morale up. Someone has to do it."

This made her glare at her brother as if he'd grown a second head before she proceeded to poke the food in front of her. A few female cadets passed by their table near enough that they could hear what they were saying. "I hear that pop idol person's moved onto the base with permission from the garrison."

"Really, you think we can catch a glimpse of him."

Rachel pushed her lips together and set her fork down as the two girls continued talking, but she started hearing their words even less. "I don't know. The garrison is working on keeping him under tight wraps. Apparently even before he disappeared everything regarding him was under tight wraps."

"Weird, but he's kind of cute."

"Not cute at all," Rachel muttered. "And I'm going to have a word with him about how I feel."

One of Marco's eyebrows shot up. "Please tell me you're not going to do something rash and stupid?"

"I'm doing what needs to be done." Rachel continued glaring at him.

"Rae, sit for a second."

It was then that she realized she stood up and that quite a few cadets were staring at her. She sat down and her niece stood up so she could walk over and tug on Rachel's sleeve. Rachel turned and looked at Nadia's adoring eyes. "What's the matter, Aunt Rae-Rae?"

"Aunt Rae's just worried about Uncle Lance."

Sylvio's words made Luic's eyebrow rise up, but he gave Rae a rather pointed look telling her she should tread carefully around their younger family members regarding what she said. He cleared his throat and spoke in a low tone after Nadia went back to the other side of the table to sit with her older brother. "Look. Lance is the one who does the rash things, not you Rae. I think you're getting overly worked up about this."

"I wish he was here, but how could _he_ possibly understand."

"It's not about understanding."

"He's speaking for us. Telling the public how to think about the whole..." She realized she raised her voice.

"The whole what?" Sylvio and Nadia looked rather curious. "What are you and Uncle Lu talking about."

Marco looked up at the ceiling while Rachel's jaw dropped slightly. She honestly wasn't sure of what she should say to the two. A grin spread across his face and he leaned forward. "The whole alien business. We were just discussing your Uncle Lance flirting with _all_ the alien chicks he finds."

"Sounds like Uncle Lance," Sylvio spoke through a mouth full of food.

Nadia let out a laugh and pointed at Rachel's face. "Is that why you're upset Aunt Rae-Rae? I think Uncle Lance trying to hit on alien girls is funny."

Rachel let out a deep sigh and turned to look at Marco in exasperation. " _What_ have you taught them?"

"What do you mean?" Marco shrugged his shoulders.

"I mean you've taught them Lance's flirting with girls is funny when it's not."

"He always fails at picking up chicks. You know that, and the expression on his darling face is so amusing."

"I don't find it amusing, particularly when he hasn't realized he keeps failing because his flirting at times borders on sexual harassment. That's why it isn't funny."

"What's sexual harassment?" Sylvio asked the question, but Nadia was obviously curious as well.

"Thanks, Rae." Marco returned her look of exasperation. He turned and smiled at Sylvio. "Hey sport, would you ever, ever flirt with a girl like your Uncle Lance does?"

"Hell no! I'm going to be a perfect gentleman like you and dad. I'm going to be a perfect ladies' man."

Rachel watched Marco slap his forehead and let out a groan. "Look what you've done? How are you going to undo this one?"

"Isn't a ladies' man a guy who does nice things for girls simply because that's the right thing to do."

Marco turned and looked Rachel in the eye. "Yup that's what a ladies' man is, isn't it?"

"Um, yeah..." Rachel put a fake smile onto her face. "That's what a proper gentleman does Sylvio, so good job."

She watched her nephew smile. Another group of cadets walked by. "Seriously. I heard that Doragonhanta was already quite the ladies' man, so why did he have to go and write a romance song."

"Was it really a romance song?"

"All of the girls say it is. He did mostly songs for Anime before that."

"Anime. Really. Is he an otaku."

Rachel felt her mouth twist slightly and she stood up again. This time she left the cafeteria, but she heard Marco call out after her. "Oh, come on Rae."


	7. Confrontation

How she managed to find him, she didn't know.

In all honestly, Rachel chalked everything up to dumb luck, particularly with the rumor she'd overheard in the cafeteria that the garrison was keeping him under wraps. She found him visiting the memorial garden set up for memorializing fallen heroes, but to provide a place of tranquility for soldiers healing from their war wounds. Most of the cadets avoided the place as most didn't know anybody who was memorialized or because they didn't know an injured soldier personally.

The youth were blissfully unaware of things such as war, but perhaps one of the reasons Rachel found herself there was because she knew Lance might end up being one of those memorialized there. Of course, she may have gone there in hopes of calming down. Any thought of calming down flew out of her head when she saw him leaning over the railing looking at one of the memorial plaques.

"You!"

The young man flinched upon hearing her voice but took a step back. Rachel didn't hesitate in walking over and poking him in the chest hard.

"Who do you think you are?"

The young man of Japanese descent glanced away nervously. "What's your problem?"

It was at that moment she caught sight of his name badge. Instead of having her anger satiated she felt it grow more. Even his picture ID didn't contain his real name. "What the hell?"

She flicked his badge which in turn made a slight noise of plastic being hit. She saw his body tense up and chanced glancing up. She saw his face twist in anger but then felt his hand grab hers and pull it away from his identification badge. She could understand why the girls went crazy for him as he had a rather handsome face, and yet Rachel still felt irritated that he was manipulating the situation for his benefit. "What the _hell_ is your problem?"

Rachel pulled her hand away and poked him in the chest but aimed for the badge. "This. Our family is worried sick about my brother because he is out there with this Voltron fighting and we don't know if he will come back alive and you're monopolizing the situation for your own personal gain! You have no idea how we feel."

She watched his eyes widen in surprise, but his facial features soften. He pulled away and returned to leaning over the railing. "What is your name?"

"That is none of your business."

"I guess not. As far as your concerned I couldn't possibly know what you're going through, right."

"That, but also the fact you've not revealed your real name. You're hiding behind that pop idol persona of yours." She watched him glance up. "Why didn't the garrison issue you a visitors badge which had your real name?"

"Originally they did."

Rachel felt her mouth twist, but her temper was reaching the boiling point. Her hands clenched into fists. "And then the song you released is a romance song."

"Romance?" He looked up at her. "I don't do romance stuff, at least not yet. Gemini wasn't about romance at all. Are those listening _really_ thinking that was the case."

"So you're going to make this about you as well?"

"Seriously." The pop idol took a deep breath. "Look. If you really want someone to take your frustrations out on, go ahead and take them out on me."

Tears welled in Rachel eyes and her mouth twisted as she attempted holding back the pain she felt. She pulled back her hand. She wasn't sure if she was going to slap him or slug him. When someone grabbed her wrist her hand formed a fist. Someone from behind her spoke. "Ryo, leave."

Her entire body trembled as Ryo's eyes narrowed. "I don't know you. Who..."

"Just leave. The last thing the garrison needs is another incident involving you."

"What..."

"Just go. I'll handle this."

Ryo continued looking at the person behind Rachel in confusion but proceeded to leave. When Ryo was gone and Rachel was unable to follow after the person let go of her wrist. She turned towards the cadet who grabbed and lashed out at him verbally. "Who are you?"

"James Griffin. I overhead the entire conversation."

"That entire conversation was none of your business."

"I'd say Ryo's involvement in all of this is none of your business."

Rachel felt her chest seize slightly. "None of my business! My brother is out there!"

"Okay, so maybe it is kind of your business." The young man went to the railing and looked at the monument there.

"Well, it certainly isn't any of yours." She walked over and noticed the memorial was the one erected for the failed Kerberos mission. Nothing had been done regarding the memorial despite the knowledge all three men were alive.

"Which one's your brother? I know it's not Keith, so is it Lance or Hunk?"

"Are you trying to hit on me?"

"No."

"Lance. Lance is my brother."

"That moron?" James let out a sigh. "Well, I guess the temper _really_ runs into the family. I mean, all of the cadets know not to get on your sister's bad side. Lance though..." James' mouth twisted into a frown. "His was unjustified."

"Are you saying my anger is unjustified?"

"No." James turned to look at her. "That said, I overheard you say Ryo couldn't possibly understand how you feel, but that's actually not true."

"Oh? What would you know about that?"

James looked away. "It's not my place to say."

"I say this is none of your business, but what is your interest in my brother?"

"I'm not interested in your brother. The person I'm interested in is Keith."

"Oh? Were you his rival or something?"

"Yes." James let out a sigh. "Worse, I was one of the many cadets who bullied him because he was the best, but also because Shiro showed him favoritism. That said..." James turned and looked her in the eye. "The person who bullied Keith the worst while he was at the garrison was your brother Lance."

Rachel found herself swallowing and glancing at the ground. "Why did you..."

"I'm giving you fair warning. Eventually, the public _will_ learn the names of the cadets who went missing. It's only been a few days so far, so it hasn't been leaked, but I'm dreading the day it does as all the baggage those cadets had are going to come out as well. Probably long before they get home, and that will get eaten up. You should also be worried about it coming out as well rather than worrying about how Ryo's slighted you personally when he really hasn't."

Rachel pushed by him not wanting to hear any more.


	8. Leaked Names

"Are we really supposed to put our faith in Voltron?" A woman Lance would go nuts for flashed her white teeth at viewers, but in some ways, the woman reminded Rachel of Gilderoy Lockhart and Rita Skeeter from the Harry Potter series she enjoyed reading as a child. Finding out Hogwarts was real suddenly felt far more enjoyable than finding out aliens were real.

"Isn't the more important question whether these aliens are real or not? I mean, we've yet to see a real-life alien," said the woman's co-host.

"Ah, but what about those cadets who went missing? What kind of cadets are we putting the faith in regarding the survival of the human race? There's a reason why they don't let cadets pilot the actual spacecraft. They're children, but we should have questioned the upsurge in military schools as an alternative education system for our children."

"Says a woman who has no children of her own," Rachel's mother muttered under her breath. Rachel felt her mouth twist in amusement and yet in the back of her mind she still found herself bothered by the news her family received a week or so ago, but she also found herself bothered by her interaction with Ryo and how James interrupted her attempt at confronting Ryo. She'd not had the chance since.

"More importantly," the woman continued. "Why not make the tech available to all schools rather than an elite group of students?"

"She wants the space program privatized." Rachel's mother handed her some vegetables to chip.

"What do you mean by that?" Rachel asked.

"It would still be a system for the elite, but instead of the government controlling which schools would get the technology, a private company would. The poorer schools would miss out. At least the garrison looks at kids from underprivileged backgrounds." The woman's co-host brought up exactly what Rachel's mother said."

"Are we sure their education system is working? They quickly blamed their best student to supposedly ever graduate for the Kerberos mission failing, but we don't know if this whole thing is just more coverup for the act the program has failed. What better way to get funds and keep the program going."

"Takashi Shirogane..." their mother looked at the screen frowning. "That's the man Lance idolized?"

"So we do come back to aliens?"

"Yeah. That's the guy he always talked about. That, and Keith..."

"Oh. Keith. He's the kid Lance said was bullying him."

Rachel felt her mouth twist into a frown remembering what James said. " _The person who bullied Keith the worst while he was at the garrison was your brother Lance._ "

"I'm not sure..."

"Well..." The woman was on a definite train of thought. "It is hard to not talk about aliens, isn't it. Nobody is talking about those missing cadets."

"Nobody knows who they are. The garrison has kept that under wraps," said the woman's co-host.

"Not as well as they would like."

"What..." Rachel's eyes blinked.

"I know. Someone leaked the names of the cadets."

"It's really disturbing finding out the histories of these cadets. This Keith Kagone is apparently a garrison washout because of behavior issues." Rachel reached for the television controller so she might turn off the television while her mother let out a sound indicating she agreed. "Then there is Lance..."

Rachel pushed the power button and the screen flickered off. Rachel saw a frown spread across her mother's face. "What is she..."

"It doesn't matter momma. They'll say anything. Let me help you finish making dinner."

Her mother glanced at her in amusement. "Did something happen?" A slight laugh escaped the woman's lips before she tilted her head at the television. "Other than that of course?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about how you never offer to help me cook unless something is bothering you. I always have to pester you to help instead, so is something bothering you?"

"I guess you could say that." Rachel chopped down with her knife down and listened to the sound which resounding through the kitchen and pushed her lips together in frustration. "What I don't like is how everyone is trying to take advantage of our pain for their own personal gain."

"Oh..." Her mother let out a sigh. "Her I was hoping it was a guy problem. I mean, what with..."

"He certainly is a pain in my ass." Rachel caught a glint in her mother's eye and shook her head slightly. "No. Not what you are thinking at all. It's that Japanese pop star."

"I saw him, didn't I? When they debriefed us? He's rather handsome, isn't he?"

"Momma! He's a prick but doesn't understand what we're going through!"

"Alright," Rachel's mother let out a sigh. "I'm excited about this alien princess Lance has mentioned."

"Mom, don't get your hopes up there either."

"Why not? He says he's going to marry the girl"

"Because..." Rachel knew her younger brother all too well. Lance liked to exaggerate and tell little white lies to make himself look good, but also make others sympathize with him. One of the things Lance bragged about was his ability to make any girl fall for him, and yet her brother had yet to get himself a girlfriend despite the fact he would flirt with any beautiful female he met. Lance also convinced himself of things which weren't true but told people these things as if they were true.

In fact, one of Lance's lies involved being the best in his class even before Keith dropped out, but she remembered how gleeful he was at the other kid's plight when Keith was kicked out. The woman on the television reporting the news said something about Keith having dropped out, but also having behavioral issues, yet in the back of her mind she wondered how much of that stemmed from the way the other cadets treated him. More surprising was the fact James was upfront about being a bully towards Keith. "Rachel?"

"Never mind." Rachel took a deep breath. "Don't worry about what I said, momma, as it's really nothing."

"I'm worried about them leaking the names of the cadets." The sound of a carpooling up made Rachel glance out of the kitchen window. Her mother also glanced up an smiled. "Ah. We have guests. I should..."

"Stay here momma." Rachel set the knife she was using down and headed out the nearby door. She found herself glaring at the men who got out of the car with their cameras.

"Hi. Are you a family member?"

Rachel didn't feel like answering the question, but the other reporter asked," What do you have to say about the claim regarding your family member barely making to the cut at the garrison, but the rumor he should have been kicked for sexual harassment."

"Leave."

"Yes, but..."

"This is private property." Rachel swallowed as her eyes caught sight of the school bus her nephew and niece road pulling up to the entrance of their small farm. The two children got off the bus and came hurtling down the path unaware of the most recent news.

Nadia's eyes widened in excitement at seeing her aunt. "Aunt Rae-Rae!"

One of the men turned towards the children. "Ah. Lance must be your uncle."

"Stop." Rachel didn't like how the men ignored her.

"Yeah. My uncle is amazing. He's training to be a pilot but is number one in his class. At least he was until he joined Voltron."

"Oh..."

"I sai leave. You don't have their parents' permission to interview them. Rachel started pushing Sylvio and Nadia towards the farmhouse.

Sylvio glanced back at the men in confusion. "But..."

Rachel glared at the two men over her shoulder. "Leave, before we call the police."


	9. The Right Thing

"Apparently that cadet is far more interested in hitting on any beautiful female he comes across rather than any form of academic success, and yet one of the pickup lines he..."

"Turn it off."

Ryo stopped in front of the doorway where some of the senior cadets were watching the television screen despite the heavy box he carried in his arms. He recognized the cadet who intervened a few days ago leaning over the couch in the lounge area but saw the cadet look up at him. Ryo's manager passed by him with another box and he started walking again. He heard the snapping sound of the television turned off, but also heard another cadet say, "Man. I thought I just saw Kagone."

"Don't be silly Kinkade. Kagone is in outer space."

"Some cadets wish they'd stay there."

The first of the cadets Ryo let out a laugh. "That's not very nice Ina."

"Hey, I'll be back in a bit."

Ryo recognized the voice as the voice of the cadet he'd recognized but paid it no mind even when he saw a flash of orange go by.

That was until the voice of the one he recognized resounded from nearby. "Do you need help moving Lieutenant Shirogane's things from storage to his old quarters?"

Ryo didn't say anything and instead continued walking towards Takashi's old quarters which the garrison decided Ryo could set back up. He didn't see his manager stop in front of him and bumped into it but did see the man step to the side so he could confront the young man.

"Don't. Don't make a scene here." He continued his way until he arrived at the quarters which belonged to his older brother and stepped in through the doorway and headed to the table and set one of the boxes onto the table. He noticed one of the boxes he left on the table was now open and let out a curse. He carefully lifted the box and closed his eyes upon confirming the box was indeed lighter. "Shit."

"Yeah. Your older brother is quite the celebrity around here even after they declared a pilot error. Leaving the door open wasn't a good idea."

Ryo felt his hands tighten into fists as he leaned into the table before turning on him. "What do you want?"

The cadet leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed, but a rather amused smile appeared on his face. Ryo's agent let out a deep breath and turned from the box he sat down. "You're intruding. If you could..."

"No. I want to know what he wants, but who he is."

"My name is James Griffin." James pointed at the door. "Why don't I help whoever this is in getting the rest of Lieutenant Shirogane's things from storage? This way you can stay here and make sure none of his stuff walks off. Actually..." James frowned. "You didn't leave the storage unattended as well."

"They have someone watching the storage units closely." Ryo's agent turned his head towards Ryo. "I guess we could get his help and find out what he wants when we finish bringing the boxes here?"

"Fine." Ryo swallowed and turned towards the kitchen counter. When the two left he found himself heading over to the couch and flopping down. A stale smell from being sealed up for a few years wafted up from the furniture and made Ryo let out a deep breath while he looked up at the ceiling. He heard James and his manager come in and out.

"Well, that's all of it."

Ryo sat up when his manager said this. He glanced at all of the boxes. "Did you find anything of his?"

"No." He watched his manager go and close the door.

"Why? Why isn't any of his things here?"

"You're talking about Keith, right?" James' question made Ryo look right at him. James shoved his hands into his pockets as he leaned against the wall. "The assumption is Keith left the garrison with what he brought with him, so you aren't likely to find any of his things here."

"I don't understand." Ryo took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"That's what happens to kids who get lost in the system."

"What system?"

"You didn't know Keith was in foster care before Lieutenant Shirogane found him?

"You do realize your other brother was living in a group home before he came to the garrison? Your older brother didn't tell you at all how he found Keith?"

"No. He didn't." Ryo's eyes opened. "What..."

"Keith stole Shiro's car."

"He what?" Ryo shook his head. "I don't want to know. What I want to know is what you want? More specifically, why did you help me out the other day? Actually, how do you even know that Takashi, Keith and I are siblings?"

"I was outside the conference room back when the Kerberos mission failed, and Keith got kicked out of the garrison. The door was open when you told someone that Keith was your brother."

"And who else have you told?"

"No one."

Ryo narrowed his eyes. "Do you think you can use that information to your advantage?"

"No." James took a deep breath. "You asked me what I wanted, so here's the truth, but go ahead and hate me if you want. "I bullied Keith while he was at the garrison, but also during junior high. He didn't deserve any of the crap any of us gave him, but one of the reasons he kept acting out was because people kept giving him crap for things out of his control."

"Why are you telling me this if you know it will make me hate you?"

"I'm telling you because that's the right thing to do."


	10. Dark Beauty

Everything felt like a distant dream.

Sometimes it felt like a nightmare.

Ryo attempted bringing some kind of normality by unpacking Takashi's things. In the back of his mind, he kept telling himself this act would make Takashi and Keith feel at home once they got back, yet Ryo felt this was a lie. The argument with his older brother remained a major sting as did his inability to connect with his twin.

One of his songs played on the radio as Ryo poured himself a cup of tea. His eyes drifted to the picture of Keith standing next to Shiro. His twin – in the earlier pictures – was uncomfortable with receiving attention, and yet Keith's eyes asked if he actually deserved their brother's affection.

Songs now came to Ryo with ease, but an ease far greater than he'd ever experienced before. His feelings – the feeling he wanted to communicate to Keith – flowed onto the paper, but sometimes the words were gleaned and past feelings which further fueled his writing.

"That was "Gemini, Touch the Skey", the English version of the Japanese pop idol Doragonhanta's song "Gemini ga Sora ni Fureru". His fans certainly are ecstatic at his return, but they're also wondering where he was this whole time and why he disappeared. Whatever the reason, his music has drastically improved."

Ryo reached out and turned the radio off with a resounding click. "Seriously, it's not about me."

"Yes, it is. In a way."

His agent's words made Ryo feel irritated at the man. He turned around while holding his cup of tea. "Really? You had to go there?"

"I'm talking about how the songs are your feelings."

"Is it that obvious?" Ryo watched his agent smile at him and glanced down at his cup of tea." Do you think it will reach them?"

"If you mean whether or not they're able to hear the songs, I don't know. I don't know if anything from Earth is getting back to them." What his agent put forth was honestly depressing, but then the man added, "That said, if they were to hear those songs, I'm sure they would understand."

"Even Keith."

"Well, I guess it depends on whether he knows the truth or not, but yes."

Ryo took a deep breath and dumped the tea down the drain rather than drinking it. He headed past the table where all of his notes were located and reached for a hoody. The fact James Griffin recognized him made Ryo realize he needed to be more careful. He tugged it over his head while saying, "I'm heading out for a walk."

"You don't want me to go with you?"

"That kind of draws attention, plus I've never really needed a bodyguard. The family made sure of that." Ryo headed for the door.

"They certainly did that."

The door closed behind him and Ryo started walking towards the memorial garden. On his way, he passed by the lounge for the senior cadets and noticed James Griffin and his friends watching the news again. Ryo found himself freezing out of curiosity.

"... feel that we should fight against this attempt by the Galaxy Garrison to further monopolize space travel under one entity, but they're willing to go to war over this. The AGC is known for having taken past terrorist action against the UCIST in the past, but it has been more than ten years since they last took action."

The screen showed footage from more than ten years ago. Ryo felt himself cringe at the memory of learning their father was KIA after one of these attacks, but now his brothers were out there. The screen switched to a picture of him at one of his concerts which in turn made Ryo tug the hood of his jacket down further in hopes nobody would recognize him. " _What's wrong with you. You've never been camera shy before._ "

"In the meantime, we've gotten a few more new releases from Doragonhanta including "Dark Beauty"."

"Man. Does anyone else think this Doragonhanta looks like Kagone?" Ryo recognized the voice as that of the one identified as Kinkade a couple of weeks ago but remembered he'd thought he'd seen Keith when he caught a brief glance of him. Kinkade was tall with broad shoulders, but his skin was dark.

Another Cadet with dark skin let out a laugh. "Oh man. You also thought you saw him the other day." Ryo recognized her as the second voice he heard that day, but he'd not learned her name. She leaned over the couch in amusement. "Wouldn't that mean he's sending his songs all the way from outer space?"

A girl with pale skin, short pale hair and blue eyes piped up from where she sat. "Rizavi's correct. There is no way it could be Kagone."

Ryo started turning to leave when the new cut to an interview with a Japanese girl dressed in the _manba_ style. He cringed at the very dark tan and white makeup surrounding the eye along with the multi-colored bright clothing. She waved her hands around briskly and the reporter translated what the girl said. "All the girls think the song "Black Beauty" refers to them, but I'm sure it refers to me."

"Ugh..." Ryo didn't realize he said anything out loud until Kinkade looked up from where he sat. James noticed and looked up as well. Ryo turned and started walking away while jamming his hands into his pocket.

While walking away he heard Rizavi say, "Really? Is that girl wearing blackface? And what's this "Dark Beauty" about?"

Dark Beauty was the result of going back and looking through his journals and reading through some of the dreams he jotted down. One of the dreams involved a trial of some kind where he _felt_ a slash across his shoulder, and a few involved almost blowing up. There was a girl with dark skin in the dreams along with dreams of weird creatures and the stars, but in stark contrast were the dreams before Keith left Earth where everything was the vast desert where Keith headed out to hide.

He wanted to think he was experiencing Keith's mind.

"Hey!" A hand clapped down onto Ryo's shoulder. He found himself turning into the shoulder and grabbing the arm. This resulted in him maneuvering behind the person and pulling their arm behind their back. Ryo heard a yelp from the person but noticed the orange uniform of a cadet as he pushed the person up against the wall.

More importantly, he recognized the person as Kinkade. Ryo heard James speak from behind him. "Ryo."

"Sorry," Kinkade muttered.

"I told you..." James didn't finish whatever he wanted to say.

"You!"

Ryo turned his head and saw _that_ girl again, but saw her pointing a finger at him. A deep sigh escaped his lips, as he really wasn't in the mood for dealing with her today.


	11. Honesty

The explosion of anger was overwhelming, but Ryo found himself caught off guard. He slowly backed away from Kinkade allowing the young man to move away from the wall where Ryo pinned him. He watched Kinkade reach up so he could rub his neck and shoulder. "Wow. Just..."

"Oh joy." James let out a deep breath while his eyes narrowed in annoyance. He quickly stepped between Ryo and the girl. "What do you want this time?"

"I want to give him a piece of my mind!" The young woman pointed at Ryo while Ryo glanced away. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"What else is new?" James snapped at the young woman, but Ryo realized he still didn't know her name.

"What else is new? He's not just taking advantage of the pain our family feels, but he had to add to that insult with his latest song?"

Ryo's mouth twisted in confusion, but in the back of his mind, he felt a slight confusion because "Dark Beauty" wasn't the only new song. One of his hands reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, but he found himself avoiding eye contact.

"Wait? This guy is Doragonhanta."

"He's a jerk! That's what he is!"

Kinkade's eyes blinked while James continued glaring at the young woman in annoyance. He slowly turned his head to look at Ryo, then looked at the young woman before looking at Ryo again. "She's talking about that song Dark Beauty, you know."

"I already got that." Ryo found himself rather annoyed but shoved his hands into his jean's pockets. For some reason, he didn't want to make eye contact with her, yet in the back of his mind, he also knew this would make him seem even more guilty.

"So..." Kinkade started turning back towards the young female.

"Don't encourage her. She's Lance's sister."

Kinkade's mouth formed a circle while he pointed a finger at her. The young woman snapped. "You know, it isn't nice to point."

"True. And you're also her sister."

Ryo glanced up at Kinkade. "Who?"

"Ah..." Kinkade glanced over at Ryo.

"He doesn't know that one of Lance's sisters is a member of the garrison and one of our teachers. He's only met this one."

Ryo took a deep breath. "Well, I've met neither."

"You don't know me either, so why are you writing that song! It's about falling in love with someone with dark skin at first sight, but you know that person is your soul mate! I don't even like you, but it won't convince me to like you either! It makes me hate you even more."

"You're assuming that it's about you, aren't you?" Ryo found himself looking up at her in anger. The first time he saw her she'd looked up at him and he instinctively looked away, yet this time he made the choice and locked eyes with her. He felt his breath draw in tightly, yet quickly glanced away. Despite Keith's love for some alien being the influence, Ryo couldn't deny the attraction he felt. He found himself looking away in irritation.

"He's right you know." James' voice drew Ryo's head back up.

"Yeah. There are a lot of girls who think they're the influence for that song." Kinkade piped up. "It's on the news."

"That doesn't change the fact it is embarrassing, particularly since my friends think it's me because they know my brother is one of the missing cadets."

Ryo took a deep breath before bowing slightly towards the young woman. "Look. I can't apologize for writing a song about you because you weren't the inspiration for the song, but I do apologize for the fact it has caused you some form of embarrassment."

"Hey. You shouldn't _be_ apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong." James glanced back at him but seemed less than pleased at Ryo's actions. "She should be embarrassed for approaching you like this."

Ryo heard a deep inhale from the young woman and looked her in the eye again. The expression on her face indicated frustration and irritation. When he looked down he saw her hands forming fists so tight her knuckles started paling. Instead of losing her temper, she instead turned and left. Kinkade let out a sigh. "James. Really?"

"What?"

"While it may be true that she shouldn't have approached..." Kinkade's pause made Ryo look at him. "Um, I don't know your name."

"Do you need to?"

"Wow. You're certainly on the defensive."

"What were you trying to say?"

"Oh. I was trying to say while she shouldn't have approached our friend here..." Kinkade pointed at Ryo while Ryo, in turn, found himself amused at the assumption that they were friends. "... that's really not how you should handle that kind of situation. It's no wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

"Thanks. At least the reason I don't have a girlfriend isn't the reason that moron doesn't have one."

"Oh. You mean Lance." Kinkade chuckled.

"I think I'll be going now." Ryo turned and headed back towards Takashi's apartment.

"Wait." Kinkade's hand clapped down onto Ryo's shoulder again.

"Really. You didn't learn your lesson the first time? I'm not exactly someone you want to sneak up on."

"That's another thing like Keith."

Ryo found himself swallowing, but in the back of his mind, he wished Takashi and Keith would come home soon. The time between when he found out they were out fighting an intergalactic battle and now was far more excruciating than the previous two years. He heard his voice strain slightly. "I should be going now."

Kinkade let go of his shoulder, but when Ryo walked away he heard footsteps following him. After a few minutes, James spoke up. "Really. You shouldn't be pestering him."

"Why not? It isn't as if he has anybody else to hang out with."

"Seriously, just..."

The apartment, unfortunately, wasn't that far away. Ryo found himself turning, but he pulled back the hood as he did so. "Look. I really..."

"You really do look like Keith." Kinkade pointed at the door. "Wait. Are you staying at Shiro's old place? I heard his things were finally gotten out of storage by a family member..." Ryo watched a grin spread across his face. "Oh! That makes sense."

"What does?" Ryo closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I didn't tell him. He came to the conclusion on his own."

"You mean you knew? Actually, how long did you know Keith was related to Shiro?"

"Ryo this is Ryan Kinkade."

"Griffin told me..." Ryo swallowed but looked Kinkade in the face. "He told me Keith got a lot of crap while he was here."

Kinkade glanced over at James. "Wait? Am I included in that?"

James' mouth twisted slightly before pointing his thumb at Ryan. "Kinkade here gave people crap for giving Keith crap but told us we should give him a chance. He tried doing so, but Keith's not exactly the most trusting person in the world."

Ryo nodded his head but pressed his lips together. "It's good to know my brother had a friend here even if he didn't realize it. I should be getting back now before my agent..."

"Your agent lives with you?"

Ryo blinked. In some ways, he could understand why Keith was put off by Ryan's attempt at making friends. His curiosity was a bit overwhelming.

The explosion of anger was overwhelming, but Ryo found himself caught off guard. He slowly backed away from Kinkade allowing the young man to move away from the wall where Ryo pinned him. He watched Kinkade reach up so he could rub his neck and shoulder. "Wow. Just..."

"Oh joy." James let out a deep breath while his eyes narrowed in annoyance. He quickly stepped between Ryo and the girl. "What do you want this time?"

"I want to give him a piece of my mind!" The young woman pointed at Ryo while Ryo glanced away. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"What else is new?" James snapped at the young woman, but Ryo realized he still didn't know her name.

"What else is new? He's not just taking advantage of the pain our family feels, but he had to add to that insult with his latest song?"

Ryo's mouth twisted in confusion, but in the back of his mind, he felt a slight confusion because "Dark Beauty" wasn't the only new song. One of his hands reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, but he found himself avoiding eye contact.

"Wait? This guy is Doragonhanta."

"He's a jerk! That's what he is!"

Kinkade's eyes blinked while James continued glaring at the young woman in annoyance. He slowly turned his head to look at Ryo, then looked at the young woman before looking at Ryo again. "She's talking about that song Dark Beauty, you know."

"I already got that." Ryo found himself rather annoyed but shoved his hands into his jean's pockets. For some reason, he didn't want to make eye contact with her, yet in the back of his mind, he also knew this would make him seem even more guilty.

"So..." Kinkade started turning back towards the young female.

"Don't encourage her. She's Lance's sister."

Kinkade's mouth formed a circle while he pointed a finger at her. The young woman snapped. "You know, it isn't nice to point."

"True. And you're also her sister."

Ryo glanced up at Kinkade. "Who?"

"Ah..." Kinkade glanced over at Ryo.

"He doesn't know that one of Lance's sisters is a member of the garrison and one of our teachers. He's only met this one."

Ryo took a deep breath. "Well, I've met neither."

"You don't know me either, so why are you writing that song! It's about falling in love with someone with dark skin at first sight, but you know that person is your soul mate! I don't even like you, but it won't convince me to like you either! It makes me hate you even more."

"You're assuming that it's about you, aren't you?" Ryo found himself looking up at her in anger. The first time he saw her she'd looked up at him and he instinctively looked away, yet this time he made the choice and locked eyes with her. He felt his breath draw in tightly, yet quickly glanced away. Despite Keith's love for some alien being the influence, Ryo couldn't deny the attraction he felt. He found himself looking away in irritation.

"He's right you know." James' voice drew Ryo's head back up.

"Yeah. There are a lot of girls who think they're the influence for that song." Kinkade piped up. "It's on the news."

"That doesn't change the fact it is embarrassing, particularly since my friends think it's me because they know my brother is one of the missing cadets."

Ryo took a deep breath before bowing slightly towards the young woman. "Look. I can't apologize for writing a song about you because you weren't the inspiration for the song, but I do apologize for the fact it has caused you some form of embarrassment."

"Hey. You shouldn't _be_ apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong." James glanced back at him but seemed less than pleased at Ryo's actions. "She should be embarrassed for approaching you like this."

Ryo heard a deep inhale from the young woman and looked her in the eye again. The expression on her face indicated frustration and irritation. When he looked down he saw her hands forming fists so tight her knuckles started paling. Instead of losing her temper, she instead turned and left. Kinkade let out a sigh. "James. Really?"

"What?"

"While it may be true that she shouldn't have approached..." Kinkade's pause made Ryo look at him. "Um, I don't know your name."

"Do you need to?"

"Wow. You're certainly on the defensive."

"What were you trying to say?"

"Oh. I was trying to say while she shouldn't have approached our friend here..." Kinkade pointed at Ryo while Ryo, in turn, found himself amused at the assumption that they were friends. "... that's really not how you should handle that kind of situation. It's no wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

"Thanks. At least the reason I don't have a girlfriend isn't the reason that moron doesn't have one."

"Oh. You mean Lance." Kinkade chuckled.

"I think I'll be going now." Ryo turned and headed back towards Takashi's apartment.

"Wait." Kinkade's hand clapped down onto Ryo's shoulder again.

"Really. You didn't learn your lesson the first time? I'm not exactly someone you want to sneak up on."

"That's another thing like Keith."

Ryo found himself swallowing, but in the back of his mind, he wished Takashi and Keith would come home soon. The time between when he found out they were out fighting an intergalactic battle and now was far more excruciating than the previous two years. He heard his voice strain slightly. "I should be going now."

Kinkade let go of his shoulder, but when Ryo walked away he heard footsteps following him. After a few minutes, James spoke up. "Really. You shouldn't be pestering him."

"Why not? It isn't as if he has anybody else to hang out with."

"Seriously, just..."

The apartment, unfortunately, wasn't that far away. Ryo found himself turning, but he pulled back the hood as he did so. "Look. I really..."

"You really do look like Keith." Kinkade pointed at the door. "Wait. Are you staying at Shiro's old place? I heard his things were finally gotten out of storage by a family member..." Ryo watched a grin spread across his face. "Oh! That makes sense."

"What does?" Ryo closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I didn't tell him. He came to the conclusion on his own."

"You mean you knew? Actually, how long did you know Keith was related to Shiro?"

"Ryo this is Ryan Kinkade."

"Griffin told me..." Ryo swallowed but looked Kinkade in the face. "He told me Keith got a lot of crap while he was here."

Kinkade glanced over at James. "Wait? Am I included in that?"

James' mouth twisted slightly before pointing his thumb at Ryan. "Kinkade here gave people crap for giving Keith crap but told us we should give him a chance. He tried doing so, but Keith's not exactly the most trusting person in the world."

Ryo nodded his head but pressed his lips together. "It's good to know my brother had a friend here even if he didn't realize it. I should be getting back now before my agent..."

"Your agent lives with you?"

Ryo blinked. In some ways, he could understand why Keith was put off by Ryan's attempt at making friends. His curiosity was a bit overwhelming.


	12. Ending Everything

"Why me?" Ryo let a sigh into his cup of tea. A week or so passed since he spoke with that young woman, yet he couldn't get her out of his head.

"What's the matter?" The sound of Ryan's voice made Ryo let out a groan of annoyance. While Ryo succeeded in avoiding the girl, he didn't know the name of he found himself unable to avoid Ryan and James. Ryan inserted himself into Ryo's life by checking in on him even though that job belonged to Ryo's agent. James came with Ryan on his visits declaring his intentions of making sure Ryan didn't overstay his welcome.

"Don't tell me you're still mooning over that girl." James glanced away in irritation.

"Mooning?"

"It's an English term for constantly thinking about something."

"I've never said I'm thinking about her. I don't even know her name." Ryo shook his head. In the back of his mind he knew this was a lie, but what bothered him honestly wasn't the fact he couldn't get her out of his head. Ryo never explained how he came up with his newest songs, yet the flow a few days ago simply stopped.

It felt as if his connection with Keith were cut off, yet mentally he wondered if this had anything to do with the fact he was indeed falling for a girl he didn't know the name of. The song _Gemini, Touch the Sky_ reflected him wanting to reach out for Keith, but also the distance between them created from the fact his brothers were in fact galaxies far away.

His other songs, of course, were inspired by the dreams he felt were connected to Keith, yet these dreams stopped and in the back of is, mind Ryo blamed his distracted mind. Sometimes he chided himself about assuming the dreams were about what his twin experienced out there, yet there he was sitting at the kitchen table in Takashi's apartment waiting for both to come home.

"In latest news..." Kinkade picked up his phone and glanced through his alerts. "Pretty much the same old, same old you know. They are wondering why you've not made a public appearance despite being super supportive of the efforts. People are of course saying this is all a publicity stunt, but we've seen the craft they're working from and Matt Holt's supposed to arrive today with some of the rebels. Actually, I think they have arrived. We just haven't seen them yet."

"You know, you're not my agent."

"He certainly acts like it. Speaking of which..." James leaned up against the wall. "Where is that agent of yours?"

"Good question." Ryo continued looking at his tea despite the fact he knew the answer.

"So you don't know the answer to James' question?"

"Nope. I know the answer." The sound of the doorknob turning on the entrance to the apartment made Ryo glance up. "That should be him now. And you're right. Matt Holt's already arrived."

The door opened and a rather chipper young man with light brown hair came in. The looks of surprise on both James and Ryan's faces were honestly amusing, but Matt's golden eyes twinkled in amusement. "Oh. You guys are here." Matt pointed his thumb at James. "I get making friends with Kinkade, but Griffin? He's the kid who picked on Keith."

"I've admitted as much." James pushed himself away from the wall. "We should be..." He stopped speaking when an alien with yellow skin and purple eyes stepped into the room. She in some ways reminded Ryo of the aliens from Star Wars who had attachments to her head which looked like hair. She was followed closely by another Alien with purple skin and a robot.

"Oh my!" The alien hurried forward. "You look just like Keith." She looked up at the purple-skinned alien. "Rolo. He looks like the red paladin, doesn't he?"

"Isn't Lance the red paladin now?"

"Is he? I thought the colors were based on the color of their suit, not the color of their lion."

"Guys. This is Nyma, Rolo and Beezer." Matt tilted his head towards the door. "Ryo, could you possibly take a walk with me in the memorial gardens? I kind of need to tell you some things, but not in front of other people."

"So aliens do exist." Ryan seemed aptly distracted by the presence of Nyma and Rolo which allowed Ryo to stand and leave, but before he left he turned to his agent. "Be sure to be a proper host to our guests."

Ryo grabbed his hoody and followed after Matt. Despite hiding his face, they still attracted a lot of attention, yet this didn't surprise Ryo as nobody had seen Matt since the Kerberos mission failed. The cadets and other members of the garrison were too into their work routines to do more than say hello. Eventually, they arrived at the memorial garden and Matt took a deep breath. "So..."

Ryo leaned up against one of the railings and glanced down at the memorial placard which didn't belong to those on the Kerberos mission. "If you're worried about me still being pissed at Takashi and hating Keith, I was an idiot."

"That actually makes my news even harder."

"What?" Ryo turned his head.

"We lost contact with Voltron."

Ryo felt his entire body tremble as he turned to look Matt in the eye. "What..."

"I'm not saying they're dead, but it's also not like them to lose contact with us."

Ryo took a deep breath. "What are the chances..."

"Slav would be better at predicting the chances than me, to be honest." Matt took a deep breath. "I'd say they're more likely to show up alive than Keith."

"Wait." Ryo shook his head and looked at the ground. "Why would you say that?"

"Keith of late seems to have some kind of death wish but has been doing some really dangerous things with the Blades. More importantly, the Blades lost contact with Keith before we lost contact with Voltron. Again, I'm not saying he is definitely dead, but you should prepare yourself for neither one coming home."

"That's not right." Ryo's throat tightened. "We didn't – I didn't get the chance to make amends with them. They deserve that much."

Matt let out a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I still felt you should know."

"I..." Ryo swallowed. "I would like to be left alone for a bit."


	13. Realization

"I honestly think you're being too hard on him."

"Shut up Marco."

"No, seriously. There are plenty of other celebrities you should be getting mad at, such as the ones who don't believe what the garrison says, or who think we should take a route. And then there are the ones who are using what's going on to bring more attention to himself."

"Marco..."

"Unlike them, he's not made a public appearance. He's been avoiding the public eye but keeping his support to the songs he's releasing and asking others to support Voltron as well. Most importantly, he didn't do anything wrong, Rae. What's really going on is you're looking for a scapegoat to take your frustrations out on, and that's just not fair, let alone right."

Rachel hated when her older brothers were right. Unlike Lance who tended to almost never be right, her older brothers almost always were. It was even more infuriating when it came from Marco who was the least serious of the siblings. Sure, Lance was known for his pranks, but he didn't do them to the level Lewis ever did, not to mention Lance's pranks often involved getting revenge or just being stupid.

She found herself walking in the memorial gardens again knowing full well she did, in fact, need to apologize to Ryo. The garden was a quiet place, so finding herself here didn't surprise her. What did was the fact the memorial garden wasn't as quiet as it normally was and she found herself following the sound, but when she got closer she saw someone crying.

She froze upon seeing the person was Ryo. She at first hesitated but eventually walked over to him. "Are you okay?"

"What do you..." Ryo clamped his mouth shut, but shut off the tears. He finally opened his mouth and said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"Seriously, what's wrong." Rachel watched Ryo turn and look at her.

"I can't tell you."

"Why? Because you were sworn to secrecy?" Rachel tried putting a humorous tone to her voice in hopes of lightening the mood.

"No. Because I like you and don't want to hurt you." What Ryo said made her eyes blinked, but realization quickly set in with him regarding what he said out loud. A blush started appearing on his cheeks, but she didn't think the fact he looked paler than normal didn't help hide his embarrassment. He stood up quickly, but his voice cracked as he spoke. "I've got to go."

"Wait."

"I really meant what I said, but.." Ryo's voice was inflicted with obvious panic. "I really, really didn't write that song about you. It was about something else entirely. Someone else's feelings for someone else." He glanced away. "I've got to go."

Rachel opened her mouth, but he bolted before she could say anything. She found herself wandering again, wishing she'd not come and visited her sister at the garrison only to completely avoid Veronica instead. "In latest news..."

Her head jolted up and her mouth twisted slightly. In front of her was the lounge for senior cadets. To her surprise, a couple of actual aliens and a robot were standing there with the cadets. One of the girls let out a sigh. "Let me guess, more rumors?"

"... fans of Doroganhanta speculate the reason he's not physically appeared is because he is, in fact, one of the missing cadets, Keith Kagone. They speculate the garrison is receiving the songs directly from Voltron."

"They don't know," the purple alien said.

The yellow one shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Kinkade, you didn't spread that rumor did you?"

"Hey. There are other senior cadets who use this room who were there when I said it. I wouldn't do something like that either."

Rachel watched the news broadcast continue, but the reporter brought up a picture of Doraganhanta and Keith. Even without the picture of Ryo on stage, she could tell just by looking at Keith. "Oh my gosh."

She stepped into the room. One of the cadets snapped at her. "Hey, senior cadets only. You're not even..."

"She's Lance's sister, moron, plus we're playing host already to some of these aliens."

Rachel swallowed, looking James in the eye. The look on his face said he wanted her gone from the room, but she still felt the need to ask. "James, where's Ryo?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because I need to apologize to him."

The cadet named Kinkade stood up. "I'll take you."

"Kinkade..." James glared at the cadet who appeared to be of African descent. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not. You can come as well if you want, or you can be a stick in the mud. See you girls later?" Rachel watched Kinkade wave towards two of the females, one who looked to also be of African descent and the other whose features paled in comparison. She quickly followed after Kinkade while James followed.

"If you attack him with false accusations again..."

"Why didn't you tell me Keith and he were related?"

"Because that's not my place."

Kinkade stopped in front of a door and proceeded to knock. The name on the nameplate made Rachel swallow, as the apartment belonged to Takashi Shirogane.

"And as you can see, he's not related to just one of the missing people, but two."

"You don't have to rub it in."

The door opened and a man other than Ryo appeared. Kinkade smiled. "Hey? Is Ryo in?"

The person glanced inside, but the man looked over as if looking at someone. "Yes. He's in a bad place right now."

"Look, if he's in a bad place right now because of you, you're no better than your brother!"

"I..." Rachel turned and looked at him, but she heard a voice speak up from inside.

The man let out a sigh and continued looking at the person inside. "Are you sure?" The person inside spoke again which made the man turn towards them. "You may come in, but if you agitate him too much I'll have to ask you leave."

Rachel found herself stepping into the room. Ryo sat at the table with his head in his hands. Kinkade noticed. "Oh man. You look awful. I'll make some coffee."

James turned towards Rachel. "You..."

"She didn't do anything." Ryo lifted his head and looked at her. "However, why are you here?"

"I came to apologize. I got you all wrong."

"Really?" Ryo motioned for her to take a seat.

Rachel took a deep breath and sat down across him. "Why didn't you tell me you're also related to one of the missing cadets, but also Takashi Shirogane?'

"I didn't..." Ryo closed his eyes. "I didn't want to belittle the way you felt."

"Yes, but what about how you felt."

"Very undeserving of having those two as my brothers." Ryo leaned back in his chair. "I wasn't on good terms with either one of them when they left."

"I wasn't on good terms with Lance either."

"That is actually understandable, given the fact he's a perverted liar."

Rachel turned and glared at James. "That may be, but he's my brother."

Ryo took a deep breath. "In my case, the reason is on me. Takashi wasn't upfront with me about who Keith was at first, but when he finally did we argued about the fact he'd not told Keith the truth. We argued a lot about this over the phone, but Keith was left with the impression I think that I thought he was replacing me. He definitely thought the reason I approached him after the Kerberos mission failed was to use him as a substitute for Takashi."

"I see." Rachel took a deep breath. "I'm still sorry for saying the things I did, but something is obviously upsetting you."

"I already told you when you ran into me that I don't want to hurt you."

"If you mean what I say, tell me the truth."

Ryo took a deep breath. "This doesn't leave the room as I don't know yet what the garrison is going to do with the information, though you can tell your family as it does involve them."

"Okay."

James and Kinkade nodded their heads while the man who answered the door read a book. Ryo glanced down. "Matt Holt told me they'd lost contact with Voltron."

"What?" Kinkade's eyes blinked.

"That doesn't mean they're dead."

"No. He said that as well, but he also said I shouldn't get my hopes up."

"But if Voltron shows up, Keith, Shiro, even Lance will be okay."

Ryo swallowed. "They lost contact with Keith before they lost contact with Voltron. More importantly..." Ryo closed his eyes. "I can't sense him anymore."

"What the hell are you talking about?" James looked at Ryo.

"I don't know how to explain it."

"It's that twin thing." Kinkade set down a cup of coffee in front of Ryo. "That's where the songs have been coming from. You've been seeing what he sees."

"I think so, but I could be wrong. I wrote the songs hoping I'd finally be able to reach him, but now..."

"It's not pointless." Rachel watched him look up.

"It is if they're dead."

"No, it's not. If it gets out that they're dead the garrison will lose major support." Rachel swallowed because she didn't want to believe her brother was dead.

James' head jolted up. "That would mean pulling support from the projects which are meant to defend us from the Galra, but that would mean their deaths would be in vain."

Ryo sighed and buried his head behind his arms. "I can't do this. I can't..."

"Not on your own. I'll help, but I think you need to prepare to become more public than you already are."


	14. Song and Dance

A steady rhythm of music beat through the makeshift dance studio they managed setting up in one of the unused classrooms. When Rachel thought Ryo was simply some jerk who wanted to take advantage of her family's pain she avoided listening to the radio or turned off the news so she couldn't hear the words of his songs. Now she listened to his music constantly as this proved the best way to help Ryo move forward in the direction he needed to.

Rachel discovered Ryo's connection with Keith and Shiro was only the surface of who he was. The songs were in fact willed with a wide range of feelings, much if not all of which were aimed at his family. Even _Dark_ _Beauty_ she learned was based on who he thought his twin brother was falling for, yet listening to the lyrics of that song and _Gemini, Touch the Sky_ made Rachel wonder how Ryo's fans didn't, in fact, recognize the sad undertone of unrequited love and the inability to see one's family.

 _Gemini, Touch the Sky_ of course resonated with her the most despite the fact she honestly found Lance's habits annoying and would likely return to thinking he was obnoxious when he returned, though she held out the hope maybe the war forced him to grow up. Songs like _Dark Beauty_ still helped her come to know him more, and she found him to be a very caring person.

When she first offered Ryo help, she didn't know what kind of help that would be. She found him drawing upon her for moral support like she expected, but she discovered her ability to draw him out of the dark place he was apt to fall into because he feared losing not one, but two siblings _again_. What she didn't expect was helping him coordinate dance moves let alone dancing with him daily in the makeshift studio.

" _When is he going to ask you out?_ " The question was asked by her mother, who didn't know yet that Ryo confessed he liked Rachel in a rather embarrassing moment, yet in the back of her mind she thought Ryo felt rejected by her in the same way his brother Keith felt rejected by the girl he liked.

The question was also asked of her friends who she couldn't hide the fact she was no longer pissed off at him yet thought it exciting one of their friends was hanging out with someone so famous. She didn't tell them either about Ryo's open confession. The moment for some reason felt private, and she'd learned Ryo was actually a very private person.

In fact, his Japanese culture was a stark contrast to her Cuban culture. She'd half expected him to be as loud as her family due to his pop idol status, yet quickly discovered from his agent that pop idols in Japan put on a persona for their fans. This wasn't to say Ryo wasn't like his persona, but more of that was only a small part of him and definitely something which helped form a mask of protection around his private life.

Yet, she found she wanted him to ask her out as she was growing to like him for who he was.

"I don't like that. Can we start again?" The music stopped when he said this as Kinkade pushed the button from where he fiddled with his camera and the other equipment from the video club at the garrison. She couldn't believe they were attempting to make an actual music video, yet couldn't help but think the product would – with a staff of inexperienced garrison staffs Kinkade planned on roping in – be super amateur compared to what Ryo normally produced.

Rachel felt sweat dripping from her face as she looked at Ryo in concern. When she came into everything she was used to the western pop idols being in the news with their latest scandal not necessarily related to their music almost as if they were attempting to garner more fame for themselves rather than working for it. Ryo though took his job seriously to the point he pushed himself to the brink.

"I'm not sure. You don't look too great."

"Please. I'm not happy with it."

She learned quite quickly not being happy with a particular part of his routine or one of his songs was an indicator he was headed into a rather dark place and he needed a distraction. "Fine, but only one more time. I'm almost at my limit."

Ryo looked up at her. She could tell he was even closer to his limit making her wonder if he'd been in the dance studio again until his agent or one of the garrison staff forced him to leave. After all, he'd done the whole song and dance much longer than she had. She'd found, though, getting his focus onto someone else distracted him enough that they could get him to stop.

She glanced over at Kinkade who was fidgeting with camera equipment and watched him hit the button which would restart the song. Soon they were back into the routine, but things felt as if they were going smoothly.

It was then that Ryo stumbled. Rachel knew full well he was at his limit when she said they could go one more time, but this was unexpected. She didn't expect her arms to reach out and grab him. She felt his weight against her own frame making her take a step back so they wouldn't both fall over. She found his face inches from her own and his eyes closed, but she also found herself doing something unexpected.

She closed her eyes and kissed him.

Rachel didn't feel Ryo pull away from her but instead felt the tension from his body leave. She found the kiss quite enjoyable, yet it lasted for what felt like a long time before they both pulled away. The look on his face was an utter shock, yet there was obvious tiredness there. Panic soon sent in. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Rachel."

"You're apologizing? I'm the one who kissed you."

"Wait. What did I miss?" Kinkade glanced up from his camera.

In the moment she'd forgotten there was another person in the room, but a slight pink tinge appeared on Ryo's face. She glanced away, yet knew Ryo needed a break. She then turned towards Ryo as the door opened and another person stepped in. She didn't see who they were as she had her back to them. "Let's go out for lunch." This, of course, caused Ryo to become slightly more flustered. "No! Not a date! What I mean is as a group of friends. You need a break."

"Could you two just find a room already?"

Rachel found herself pushing her lips together upon hearing James' words. Ryo, of course, started to stammer at the suggestion, yet the bright red tinge on his face said he thought the suggestion completely inappropriate.

"Woah! Ryo..." Kinkade let out a sigh. "What James means is the two of you should just go out. The sexual tension between the two of you is so obvious."

Rachel turned her head towards Kinkade who in turn glared at James, James let out a sigh. "Yeah, that's what I meant."

"I..." He glanced away but spoke softly. "I could honestly take you wherever you want, but maybe you should choose the place."

Kinkade lifted a hand to his mouth. "What he means is he can take you to the most expensive restaurant in town."

"No." Rachel turned towards Ryo. "It's not that I don't appreciate that, and maybe on a later date, but I'd feel like I was taking advantage of you, not to mention the fact you're more likely to catch attention at a place people expect you. So why not a place they don't expect?"

"It's an official date though?"

"Yeah. It is."

She found herself thankful she and her friends didn't normally hang out at the place she took him during the day, but she told him as much. She found herself following up, "It's not that I don't want them to know that we're on a date, but it also doesn't fell right particularly on a first date."

The person in charge led her to the place they usually sat while Ryo sat with the shades over his eyes along with the hoody in order to go incognito. He leaned into his arm, but she found herself wishing they weren't going on a first date with him as tired as he was, yet she also found herself worried about him. They placed their orders and waited.

Their drinks were delivered and she carefully sipped at her soda while Ryo spun the ice cubes with the straw. "You should probably drink something."

"You're right." He lifted his drink up and started drinking. His eyes drifted to the television screen where they saw Rolo and Nyma waving. "They seem to be doing well.'

"Yeah. Where did you get the idea for the two of them to... well, you know."

"Nyma's already got the persona of a pop idol, but introducing her that way would soften the blow of finding out aliens are real, despite the fact there will still be some form of prejudice against them. Of course, she also needed something to balance her out – a male persona. I'm just glad Rolo finally agreed when I introduced him to rap."

"Rachel!"

Rachel flinched at hearing Nina's voice and glanced up to see her friends. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Did you really think... wait, is that!"

"It is!" Nina squealed. "It really is..."

Someone stepped behind her and covered her mouth. "Really? You want to blab that so the entire world knows?"

Nina turned towards the person and spoke in a soft voice. "Sorry, Marco."

"Oh no. Not you too."

"Hey, why don't you three head to another table today?"

"Marco, what are you and everyone doing here?"

"Rae, it's not your friend's fault you normally don't come and hang out at the _cantina_ during the day." Marco invited himself to sit at their table, but scooted in next to Ryo in the booth and held out his hand. "I'm Rae's older brother. Has she invited you to meet the family yet?"

"Marco..."

"Yeah."

"This is our first date."


	15. Familia

Marco, of course, blabbed about the date to everyone, so inviting Ryo over for a family meal was inevitable.

Veronica of course already knew Ryo and found the fact Rachel went from hating to dating amusing. Her mother and sister-in-law were quite excited at the prospect of getting to meet him, but her male relatives were an honest pain. Marco, of course, found the opportunity a wonderful time to tease Rachel and hoped to tease Ryo as well. Lewis, of course, felt Ryo was taking advantage of his younger sister, but her father was worse. "You weren't serious about all the others."

Rachel went on dates back in high school with some of her guy friends and some of the guys who asked her out. Lance of course always referred to them as her boyfriends because he always assumed that going on one single date made the two people boyfriend and girlfriend. She'd gone on so many different dates with guys that Lance unfortunately at times referred to her as a slut because he was also of the misconception that was what a girl who'd dated a lot of guys was.

Of course, Lance went on quite a few dates himself. In his mind, he'd a dozen girlfriends who all dumped him, but he decided the reason was because the other guys were jealous of him. The reality was none of the girls wanted to date him after the first date. Rachel heard from some his gaze would wander, or he'd act possessive. The fact he'd constantly text or call after the date never helped. He'd always run off to their mother and cry about getting dumped again but act as if it was never his fault.

According to Lance, nothing ever was his fault.

Then there was the stark contrast between her and Ryo's two cultures. Even before she started dating him she knew her Cuban culture was loud compared to what he was used to, yet she also saw Ryo's nervousness grow as the date for meeting her family drew nearer. He kept looking out nervously at the landscape passing by the windows of the limo he rode in with Rachel, Veronica, and his agent.

He'd spoken to her about worrying if his host gifts would be deemed appropriate. Rachel told him he didn't have to follow the Hispanic tradition of giving a host a gift only to find out that was one tradition between their two cultures which were the same, but Veronica also told her he would be in a lot of trouble if he didn't bring a gift to something planned like this yet didn't go into detail

When the limo arrived the first two greet them were, of course, Sylvio and Nadia who was excited at seeing the limo. For some reason seeing her nephew and niece made Ryo relax, but he left them to climb right into the limo while Veronica reminded the two, they needed to remain on their best behavior. He handed each the wrapped presents meant for the children in the household.

Nadia's eyes widened at seeing a set of cute little bear figurines. "I've never seen these before! Where did you get them?"

"From Japan." Ryo smiled at Nadia. "I made the mistake of asking a group of my female acquaintances for advice on what to get, and they ended up sending this."

"Why was it a mistake?" Nadia grinned at him. "They're adorable!"

"Well, I'm not sure you'll understand what I mean when I say they're self-merchandising here."

Nadia, of course, didn't seem to care and simply started counting the number of bears. Sylvio frowned at his gift, then look up at Ryo. "A transformer?"

Veronica let out a sigh. "Sylvio..."

"It's not a transformer. It's a Gundam. I would have gotten the model kit, but all of the instructions are in Japanese."

"What is a Gundam?"

"What is..." Ryo let out a laugh. "Transformers wouldn't even exist if it weren't for Gundam. It was Takashi and my favorite series growing up, but I'm sure he introduced Keith to it as well. It's why Takashi wanted to become a space piolet."

Suddenly, Sylvio seemed quite ecstatic about his gift and hurried off to show his father. "Forty-eight."

"Forty-eight?" Veronica asked.

"There are forty-eight little bears."

"Not surprising." Ryo piped up.

Nadia looked up at him. "So, she was really nice to send these to you, so why are you dating Rachel instead of her?"

"Not she, they. As I said, they're a group of my female acquaintances." Ryo tried continuing to smile at Nadia. "Plus, aren't you implying there is something wrong with your Aunt Rachel with that statement when there isn't?"

Nadia's eyes widened as she looked at Rachel apologetically. Nadia rushed off. Rachel let out a laugh. "Let me guess. You asked an all-female pop idol group for advice?"

"You could say that. You could say my status doesn't really make it easy for me to make female friends and my female relatives – that in itself is complicated."

"So, Takashi and Keith aren't your only family?"

"No. We have other family members."

"I guess I'll have to one day meet your family.

Veronica spoke up from where she sat. "Actually, you have met someone else in Ryo's family already."

"When?"

"That would be me." Ryo's agent raised his hand from where he held onto a bottle. "Though, to be honest, I'm best described as a distant cousin. I'm actually not here to simply drop you and Ryo off, but to give your mother the sake we had sent over as Ryo's still a minor."

Rachel turned towards Ryo. "You didn't have to go to such lengths with your gifts."

"Except the traditional host gift for the Shirogane family always involves the sake made right in the village we're from along with some of the food made there." Ryo swallowed. "Plus, the fact they shipped them over on their own accord is a sign of approval."

"You're actually worried they would disprove of me?" Rachel felt slightly hurt by this statement.

Ryo opened his mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. It's..."

He couldn't finish what he wanted to say, and his agent took a deep breath. "The mother of the young masters is an off-limits conversation in the Shirogane clan, but this means you are not."

"Wait. Did he just say..." Rachel heard the sound of her family approaching yet couldn't erase from her mind how Ryo's agent addressed him and his brothers along with the fact the word clan was dropped. She watched Ryo step out and bow his head slightly to her mother and father which surprised them, as did the agent. Ryo handed over the package of sweets made in his home village and heard the agent explain the gift.

The look of surprise on the faces of her family members was honestly expected, nor was she surprised when her mother invited the agent to stay and he politely accepted. She was surprised when Lewis and Marco pulled her aside. Marco lowered his voice. "Why didn't you tell us your boyfriend was from a well to do family?"

"I didn't know until just before we got here."

"He's not thinking of using you as some kind of mistress is he, because..."

"Lewis, stop assuming the worst. Get to know him before you..." Rachel glanced up and saw her nephew and niece swarming Ryo and him chatting amicably with him. ... before you judge him."

Marco smiled. "Well, he gets along well with your Sylvio and Nadia, but they adore the gifts he brought."

"That's beside the point."

"Rachel, could you come and help me in the kitchen?" Her mother waved her over. "I'm not trying to make you work while your boyfriend is here. I just want to talk." Rachel let out a sigh and followed her mother into the kitchen where she was indeed put to work, yet the real reason soon became apparent. "I absolutely adore him."

"He's definitely a catch." Luis' wife Lisa spoke up. "And not just because he is well-to-do either. He's very polite."

"I am a bit confused though."

"Mama, if it's about my saying I didn't like him."

"No. I'm not understanding how he could possibly be related to Keith. He's very different from the young man Lance said was bullying him."

the young man Lance told me about."

"That's because Lance didn't tell you the truth about Keith." Veronica stood in the doorway of the kitchen. Their mother glanced up at her.

"What do you mean by that?"

Veronica let out a sigh and walked over to the counter and started helping to put the finishing touches on the meal. "This isn't something you're going to like hearing, so are you sure you want me to tell you?"

"Yes. I do."

"Lance was the bully."

"Lance?" Lisa turned and looked at Veronica. "He's always been super sweet to me since I entered the family, but he dotes on Sylvio and Nadia."

"Why would Lance bully Keith?"

"Do you know how Lance always bragged about being the number one fighter pilot in his class?"

"Yes. I do, though I know he wasn't." Their mother sighed. "He wasn't in that group when he first started, but he barely made it into the group this year."

"Keith was the number one pilot, but the reason Lance was able to move up from cargo pilot to fighter pilot is because Keith was no longer in the program."

"Wasn't that because of a disciplinary issue?" Lisa frowned.

"Sort of. It's not something I can go into." Veronica looked down at the counter. "A lot of what the news is working from is rumor."

"What about the rumor Lance should have been kicked out for sexual harassment?"

Rachel looked at her mother in surprise. "What? You know about it?"

"I know that you kids have been trying to hide what they're saying in the news about your brother from me, but Sylvio and Nadia are hearing about it in school."

"That idiot." Rachel turned back to her task.

"Oh boy." Veronica let out a sigh. "He's definitely not above flirting with any beautiful female he sees, but so far his behavior hasn't gotten to the point of sexual harassment from what I can tell. I hope it never does."

"Maybe we should start serving dinner." Rachel honestly didn't want to talk about Lance and the fact he was a definite ladies' man.


	16. Under Fire

The four women left the kitchen and found Lewis chatting amicably with their father, Marco and Ryo's agent. He glanced up at her and grinned, before looking over towards Ryo. Rachel's eyebrows shot up upon seeing Ryo listening to whatever Sylvio and Nadia say while they sat at the children's table. Rachel walked over. "So, what are you guys talking about?"

"I want to watch Gundam, and Macross, and Eureka Seven, and Metal Armor Dragonar, and Neon Genosos Evangolon..."

"Genesis Evangelion..." Ryo corrected.

"A lot of awesome cartoons about outer space and what Uncle Lance is doing !"

"So, you're into cartoons?" Rachel laughed.

"Voice acting is one of the things I do."

"Oh."

Nadia tugged on the sleeve of Rachel's jacket. "He does the Japanese voice for Shino!"

"Hey, isn't that your favorite show and favorite character."

"Uh-huh." Nadia then said, "My Aunt Rae-Rae is dating my favorite character, so does that make you Kanna?"

"I am not sure what that means?"

Nadia opened her mouth to answer the question, but Ryo was a bit quicker. "Could I possibly answer that one later?"

"Ugh. Mushy stuff." Sylvio's eyes rolled.

"Oh. Romantic love interest, huh?" Rachel watched Nadia nod her head ecstatically.

"Can you both sit with us Aunt Rae-Rae?"

Sylvio's eyes widened. "I'll let you join us if you promise no mushy stuff."

Ryo looked up at her. "I don't mind."

"Well..." Rachel turned and looked at her mother who was still placing food on the table with the help of Lisa. "You'll need to ask _abuela_ if that's okay." She watched the two rush over in excitement while Ryo stood up. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"How did you get to be so good with kids?"

"Honest truth?" Ryo let out a sigh. "I honestly enjoy being with the younger kids in my family as they're not caught up in the family politics, but I think a little of it comes from Takashi. He's had plenty of reason to lose patience with me over the years, but the only time was when it came to Keith."

Rachel watched her nephew and nieces' faces light up. They turned and rushed over with the news that Rachel's mother gave her blessing, but the look on Lewis' face indicated he was starting to warm up to Ryo simply by watching him interact with his kids. They sat down and started passing the food around. Ryo helped Nadia dish up her food.

"So, when do you plan on asking for Rachel's hand in marriage."

Ryo's eyes widened. Rachel leaned into the palm of her hand and hid her face. "I'm so sorry."

Nadia reached out and tugged on Ryo's slave. "When will you marry Aunt Rae-Rae and become a... a..."

"Permeant part of the family." Marco turned around enjoying the conversation, but Ryo's agent seemed amused by the direction the conversation was going.

"That."

"Not until after _seinijshiki_ at least."

Rachel peeked through her fingers and saw Ryo's face turn a bright red. Lewis glanced up from his food in confusion "Sei... what?"

" _Seinijshiki_ is the coming of age ceremony in Japan," Ryo's agent answered.

"Oh." Marco let out a laugh and looked at her in amusement. "So Rachel is a crib robber?"

"What is..." Sylvio's lip pushed out at the unfamiliar term.

"Marco!" Lisa, of course, wasn't pleased.

"The _Seinijshiki_ occurs once a year for all youth in Japan who have turned twenty during a set period of time."

Veronica took a sip of her drink before saying, "Rachel would actually turn twenty during that time period as well, but if we were in Japan it would be Rachel going to school with Ryo and Keith and not Lance. Hunk would as well."

"So, this Keith is older than Lance?" Marco turned towards Ryo. "What is he like?"

"What is Keith like?" Ryo glanced at the table.

Veronica let out a deep breath. "Oh boy."

"Their family situation is a bit complicated. Perhaps we could answer that question another time?"

Rachel found herself grateful that her mother asked Ryo's agent to stay, yet she still didn't know his name despite the fact he was Ryo's family. Any further conversation regarding the matter was forgotten when a loud booming sound was heard overhead. Nadia and Sylvio let out a scream as another loud sound shook the house. Ryo's eyes glanced up.

A crackling sound was heard from Veronica's communication device and she opened communication. "Yes."

"Stay put with your family and keep them safe. Don't try heading to the Garrison at this point as it is not safe."

"What..." Their mother's lip trembled. "What are they talking about?"

"Sorry for saying this, but it's the Galra

"Where's Voltron?" Nadia's lip quivered and tears welled in her eyes. Sylvio tried keeping a brave face, but he also looked scared.

Another booming sound was heard. Rachel watched her father and oldest brother stand. "We've got to go check on the animals."

"Don't go!" Nadia attempted dashing after them only for Marco to grab her and prevent her from following. He made shushing sounds while the tears started rolling.

Ryo turned slightly. "Hey, Nadia. Sylvio. Why don't we play a game while we wait?" The two children looked at him in confusion. "I know it's scary, but this will help."

"What kind of game?"

Ryo got down on his knees. "First, why don't we get under the table. If you've done earthquake drills at your school, you know it's pretty safe under there."

The two kids nodded and Rachel found herself getting under the table. Marco quickly joined them. Sylvio let out a sniffle. "Now what?"

"So, we have a game we play in Japan. Someone says a word, and the next person says a word which begins with what the previous word ended with. Okay?"

"So, if I say Voltron..." Sylvio stopped sniffing.

"I'll say neutron."

"What's a neutron?" Nadia asked.

"It's a scientific thing, but it's your turn, Nadia."

"Nadia. Nadia starts with that letter."

Lisa peeked under the table. "We'll get some emergency supplies. Keep those two occupied."

"Yes. Let's see. I guess it's my turn. Albatross."

"Shirogane."

"Noodle," Marcos piped up.

"My last name ends with an 'e' not an 'n'."

"Does this mean I'm out?"

"Until the next round." Rachel smiled.

They went through a couple of rounds, but Luis and their father came back. The power went out while they waited. Eventually, the booming stopped, but the quiet was unsettling. Rachel watched Nadia cling to Ryo who rested a hand on the top of her head. Every so often he glanced up at the sky, but would glance back down."

They decided to come out from under the table. Rachel's mother smiled at her. "Let's give the two lovebirds some room. Sylvio, Nadia, do you want to help me make dessert?"

Nadia sniffled from where she still clung to Ryo. Marco leaned down. "Come on. Give Rae some time with Ryo but come help me and _abuela_ in the kitchen. I like making desserts, but she usually doesn't let me play in the kitchen anymore."

Nadia reached out and let Marco lift her up into his arms. Ryo's agent watched for them to leave before saying, "I can step outside."

"No. It's okay."

"But you're not." Rachel knew something was bothering him.

"It's just..." Ryo leaned into the table. "We've gotten no word regarding what's happened, but..."

"But what?"

"I've been telling myself I'd been imagining things the last few days."

"What?"

"That I'm sensing Keith."

"That's..."

"Except I don't know if..." Ryo covered his eyes. "I'm happy around you, even when things are bad. For all, I know it's just wishful thinking on my part."

"Maybe, but maybe it's not."

"Aunt Rae-Rae!" Nadia came hurtling out of the kitchen. "Aunt Rae-Rae!"

Her face was still stained with tears. Ryo frowned. "How are you making desert when there is no power?"

" _Abuela_ is very intuitive. I think that's the right word. But, but..." Nadia found herself taking a deep breath.

Veronica came into the room followed by Lisa who was attempting to wrangle her daughter. "I received a communication from the garrison. We were rescued by Voltron."

Ryo swallowed, looking at the table. Lisa swallowed. "Sweetheart, aren't you excited you'll be getting to see your brothers like we're going to see our Lance?"

"I..." Ryo tried smiling.

"Ryo was told that Keith wasn't with Voltron the last time they had contact with them, so we don't know if Keith is with them."

"Oh, sweetheart..."


	17. Home Coming

"Thank you." Ryo watched his agent bow towards Rachel's family from where he sat in the garrison vehicle. Ryo now wore a hoodie sent by the garrison so that he wouldn't draw attention to himself when they arrived. "Thank you for making us feel welcome."

Nadia looked at those getting to go with tears in her eyes. "Why can't we get to go too?"

"Yeah, I want to see Uncle Lance."

"We've been over this." Veronica looked down at her nephew and niece. "We decided I would go and see if Uncle Lance is with Voltron before the family comes out."

"But Aunt Rachel is going with."

Veronica glanced up at where Rachel sat next to Ryo. Ryo felt her fingers twist through his. "She is going to support Ryo." Ryo watched her get down on the level of her niece and nephew and remembered Shiro doing the same for him. "I promise I'll send for you guys as soon as we know something, okay?"

"Okay." Both children looked at him with their lips jutted out. Veronica stepped into the vehicle and the door closed.

"They didn't say who was with them?" Rachel asked.

"No. Voltron was apparently making arrangements for their landing still when they called me and arranged for the vehicle to come pick us up."

"There is no use worrying until we get there."

Ryo appreciated what his agent said, yet he still found himself in the place he found himself when Holt started talking about the war having a negative effect on those involved. He didn't want to know, yet he needed to know. When they arrived they were greeted by James and Kinkade. Ryo looked at both. "Any news?"

"Come." James started walking away and Ryo followed with Rachel and Veronica while Kinkade followed from behind. They arrived at one of the places for landing spacecraft and Ryo's jaw dropped at seeing the huge robot lions looming above them, only for his eyes to be drawn towards the group standing in front of the lions. He recognized the one in the red uniform as Keith.

The one in blue poked Keith in the chest. "Why are you the one to go to the infirmary and check in on Shiro? Huh?"

"This is not the time Lance."

"Of course..."

"Excuse me." The anger in Rachel's voice made him turn and look at her.

"Wh..." Ryo's eyes blinked.

"... this is..."

"Rachel, please don't do anything..."

Ryo's eyes closed as Rachel's fist made contact with the chin of the person dressed in blue. They opened up and he whispered so Veronica could hear him. "Let me guess. That is your brother Lance?"

"Unfortunately."

"Seems he's not changed." James seemed far from pleased.

"Keith seems to. I mean, he didn't lose his temper." Kinkade let out a laugh as Rachel started dragging her brother away from the rest of the group.

"I'm not sure Rachel gave him the time to." James turned towards Ryo. "Hey. Listen."

"If it's about what you did to Keith."

"No. I'd hoped to get you here before they took your other brother to the infirmary. He's honestly been through the wringer."

Ryo nodded his head. "Thanks for letting me know."

"And that purple alien with them?"

"What about her?"

"Apparently she's Galra, but on our side."

Ryou wasn't sure what to think of that but started forward with his hands jammed into his pockets. Keith seemed to notice his approach and started looking up, but not before Ryo reached out and pulled Keith into a hug. He didn't care if Keith slugged him, but he caught sight of the scar on Keith's right cheek as he did. He felt Keith tense up. "Ryo?"

"I'm sorry." Ryo let his eyes closed. He was sorry for not being a good brother.

"You're sorry? I should be the one. I didn't bring..."

Ryo took a deep breath and pulled away holding Keith at arm's length. "You mean Takashi didn't tell you?"

"What?" Keith stared at him in confusion.

"Keith, I didn't approach you back then for the reason..."

"I know." Keith glanced at the ground but reached up to remove Ryo's hands. "Krolia told me."

"Kr..."

"I'm still sorry for not bringing Shiro back in the condition he left, and I'm still sorry for slugging you back then and misunderstanding."

"Hold on a second. Whose Krolia? Why would this person know you're our brother?"

Ryo watched Keith turn and look at the Galra female who stood chatting with three aliens who looked human except for the pointed ears while scratching the head of a big blue wolf. "She's Krolia. As for why she knows..." Keith turned back towards Ryo. "She's our mother."

**V**

"What is your problem!"

Rachel watched Lance glare at her while leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed. "I should be asking you that Rae."

"No, you shouldn't. The way you were acting back there..."

"Why are you defending Keith?"

Rachel clenched her fists together. "You should be asking why you're so hard on him."

"Why? Because they're playing favorites with Keith again. They're letting him go to the infirmary to check up on Shiro." Lance pointed his finger at his chest. "Keith is the one who took off on us for months and I was left being the one to support Shiro, yet he's the one who's getting to waltz in as if he never ran away."

"What did you do to drive him away?"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't play naïve Lance. What did you do to make Keith not feel welcome?"

"That..." Lance glanced at the ground. "That's beside the point." She watched his hands tighten around his arms. "I'd rather introduce you to Allura."

"You mean the alien princess you're going to marry?"

"Of course. She can't resist my natural charm." Lance wiggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah, sure."

"Hey, if you don't want my advice in catching a guy like I've caught Allura's heart..."

"I actually have a boyfriend Lance."

She watched her brother's eyes blink. "Wait. Who?"

"Honestly, none of your business."

Rachel enjoyed watching his jaw drop, but she wasn't in the mood of telling him. In the back of her mind, she contemplated asking the rest of the family not to let Lance know who her boyfriend was simply to see him squirm.


End file.
